BCC Minutes 03/05/1996 R REGULAR MEETING OF MARCH 5, 1996,
OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COHMISSIONERS
LET IT BE REHEHBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners in
and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning
Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as
have been created according to law and having conducted business
herein, met on this date at 9:05 a.m. in REGULAR SESSION in Building
"F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following
members present:
CHAIRMAN: John C. Norris
Bettye J. Matthews
Timothy J. Constantine
Timothy L. Hancock
Pamela S. Hac'Kie
ALSO PRESENT: W. Neil Dorrill, County Manager
Mike HcNees, Assistant County Manager
David Weigel, County Attorney
Item #3A
AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA - APPROVED WITH CHANGES
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I'll call the meeting, the county commission
meeting of March 5, 1996 --
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: Call it to order also.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Yes, I'll call it to order as well.
Mr. Dorrill, could you lead us in a pledge and an invocation,
please.
MR. DORRILL: Heavenly Father, as always, we give thanks today for
the wonder and glory that you have bestowed on this county. We give
thanks for its people, for its elected leadership, and we would ask
that you bless them and guide their hand today as they make important
business decisions that affect our community.
Father, throughout the world we realize there's a great deal of
strife, and we especially pray for the people of Israel this morning,
the tragedy associated within that country in the last few days, and we
lift them up before you today. We'd ask that you bless not only the
people of this county but also especially our employees and the many
citizens who do choose to participate in the government process and
that you would also bless our time here together today. We pray these
things in Jesus' name. Amen.
(The pledge of allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Dorrill, we have a few changes today, and we
have a set of televisions out in front of us here. This is for a
public petition?
MR. DORRILL: This is for a public petition and has been
arranged and will be removed immediately following their public
petition.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have it on our morning agenda. It
has to come before a public petition. I wonder if we could --
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: That thing's on wheels; I can see
it from here.
MR. DORRILL: It is. But actually the public petition
will be immediately following the proclamations and service awards.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: All right. We have a few changes.
Could you run us through those?
MR. DORRILL: Yes, sir. Good morning, Commissioners. I
have two add-on items. The first will be item 8(B)(3) as it pertains
to waiving the normal procurement bidding practices for the emergency
reopening of Clam Pass. That will be under public works, 8(B)(3).
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We got the permits then to do
that?
MR. DORRILL: I presume that we do or that we expect to
have them in advance of the authorization to proceed. COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay.
MR. DORRILL: We have added -- but I will ask that we
continue for one additional week item 12(C)(2) under public hearings
as it pertains to a recommendation concerning an ordinance to expand
our public nuisance abatement ordinance. The sheriff was out of town
last week, but he arrived back into town yesterday. And I did have
the opportunity to talk to the sheriff yesterday afternoon, early
evening, and I think we have a resolution of that, and I'll ask that
that be continued just one final week. I think the sheriff and I are
in agreement. We may need to do just a little modification to the
ordinance in order to -- to get us where I think both you and the
sheriff want to be.
I have two requests for continuances. The first one
does not have a date. Itws item 8(B)(2). Itws to establish a policy
on canal crossing improvements along State Road 29 south of
Immokalee. I have some questions that Iwd like to have resolved
before we put that back on the agenda.
Then Iid like to continue for two weeks until your
regular meeting of March the 19th item 8(E)(2) under the executive
office report as it pertains to the Collier County tourism committee
and an update for the BCC on the tourism market. Thatls at the
request of the TDC.
I have one item that we would like to withdraw this
morning, and we will reschedule only if necessary on the consent
agenda item 16(A)(1)(n), which is a code enforcement case for a
individual whose last name is Collins. And, Mr. Chairman, thatls all
that I have this morning. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Matthews, do you have
anything further?
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: No, I donlt. Thank you.
CHAIRNLAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hancock?
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yes, Iid like to add possibly
under county attorneyls report an update on the Wyndemere situation
for possible direction.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Wyndemere --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Thatls that briefing last
weekend?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner MacIKie.
COMMISSIONER MACIKIE: Just one communications item.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. Commissioner Constantine.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: No changes, Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Can we have a motion, please?
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Motion to approve the agenda and
consent agenda as amended.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second to
accept the agenda and consent agenda. Those in favor, signify by
saying aye.
Opposed?
There are none.
Item #4
HINUTES OF REGULAR HEETING OF FEBRUARY 13, 1996 - APPROVED AS PRESENTED
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Chairman, motion to
approve the minutes of the regular meeting of February 13, 1996.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Do we have a second?
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Motion and a second. All those in
favor, signify by saying aye.
And opposed?
Item #5B
EMPLOYEE SERVICE AWARDS - PRESENTED
Being none, we'll go to service awards. We have two
service awards today. One is for five years, Daniel Farris from
transportation.
(Applause)
Thank you, sir. There you go.
And we have Hichelle McDonald from parks and recreation
for ten years.
(Applause).
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Hichelle's working hard out at the
parks. We'll make sure she gets this certificate.
Item #7A
TERESA H. COX REPRESENTING BREAKWATER CUSTOM HOMES, INC. REGARDING A
WATER METER READING - PETITIONER NOT PRESENT AND THEREFORE NOT HEARD
Our next item is public petition, Teresa Cox. Miss Cox,
are you here?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Can't have a public petition
without the public. Miss Cox looks strangely like John Yonkosky. Is
there something we should know, John?
MR. YONKOSKY: Good morning, Commissioners. For the
record, John Yonkosky. This was a request by Terry Cox from
Breakwater Custom Homes for the board to consider --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: She's not here.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Is the petitioner here?
MR. YONKOSKY: I do not see the petitioner here.
Item #7B
BRIAN LEITH REPRESENTING INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS MANAGEMENT GROUP
REGARDING A PYRO MUSICAL COMPETITION AT SUGDEN PARK - STAFF TO PLACE
THIS ITEM ON UPCOMING AGENDA
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. Then we will move on to the --
to the next one, Brian Leith representing International Fireworks
Management Group.
MR. LEITH: Mr. Chairman, Commissioners, good day.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Leith, you understand you have ten
minutes including the presentation; is that correct? MR. LEITH: Yes, I do.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. I just took 15 seconds of it.
MR. LEITH: Okay. I'm here today with an associate of
mine, Peter Floy (phonetic) and we're proposing a major event for the
Naples area. It's one that we hope will capture the imagination of
the people of Naples. We're before you today with a petition, and the
petition reads as follows: Dear Commissioners, International
Fireworks Management Group's purpose today is to formalize our
interest in Sugden Regional Park as a preferred host venue for Fantasy
and Fire and to conclude the process for county approval of this
site.
Fantasy and Fire will be our first international pyro
musical competition in the United States. In Canada a similar event
known as Symphony of Fire has been enormously popular. Fantasy in
Fire is a world-class event. Projected attendance each evening is
twenty to twenty-two thousand people.
Fantasy and Fire is not simply a fireworks exhibit; it
is far more absorbing. It is the full synchronization of light with
music. It has a strong emotional impact. Companies from around the
world will compete for the prestige of winning our first-place
trophy.
It is our intent to create an international festive
atmosphere surrounding the event. The main event each day is the
Fantasy and Fire presentation by one of our participating countries.
Each country's performance has a unique personality. A panel of five
judges chosen locally will determine the best performance.
Each performance of Fantasy and Fire will also include
other talents to entertain our patrons before the competition. These
will consist of hang glider performances, water ski shows, and a night
kite show. The final evening's performance consists of a medley that
includes all participating countries. The evening concludes with the
presentation of trophies to the winning teams.
Operating hours would be 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturdays and
Wednesday over a two-week period of time tentatively set for early
November. Fantasy and Fire will be funded through ticket sales,
private sponsorship, and an application for tourist development funds.
Admission prices will range from $15 for reserved seating to $6 for
children's general admission. Profits from services surrounding the
event are planned to benefit Collier County Parks and Recreation and
the Collier YMCA youth scholarship program.
Sugden Park has been carefully evaluated by our production people.
It offers a safe, controlled environment with excellent access for
shuttles to off-site parking facilities and hotels. The large lake and
waterpark atmosphere of Sugden Park will greatly enhance the aesthetic
feel of Fantasy and Fire.
The park site itself will require very little improvement in order
to accommodate Fantasy and Fire. Most infrastructure improvements will
be of a portable nature and will be brought to the park for the event.
The improvements required involve clearing and additional fill in
selected areas of the park. These improvements all fall, we believe,
within the initial buildout plan for the park.
We have met with and received approval for use of Sugden
Regional Park from those in attendance at the January meeting of the
parks and recreation advisory council. We have received a full
endorsement for presentation of Fantasy and Fire from the East Naples
Civic Association. Discussions have taken place with homeowners
around the park, the fire department, and the sheriff's office. All
are satisfied with the infrastructure we have proposed for the event.
Naples is a very desirable location for launching our
expansion into the United States. It is one of the fastest growing
areas in the U.S. It has nearly 14 million people within a day's
drive. It is beautiful and has ideal weather for a November event.
The economic impact that an event of this magnitude can
have on the local economy is staggering. Our initial estimate of
direct first-year economic impact to Collier County is nearly 6
million dollars. This benefit could be significantly amplified
through local business involvement and festivities surrounding the
event.
We are very excited about the opportunity of bringing a
really world-class event to Naples, Fantasy and Fire. Thank you.
We'd like to show you a video now which gives you an idea of exactly
what the event looks like. It's an excerpt from a presentation we do
in Toronto.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
(A video presentation was shown to the Commissioners and
the audience.)
MR. LEITH: I might just point out this music is the actual music
the spectators are seeing when the performance is going on.
(Applause)
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: You might be able to sell some
tickets a little later out in the hall.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Leith, your time is expired. Do
you have a request for us, or was this just for our information?
MR. LEITH: No. What we would like to do is --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Please come to the microphone.
MR. LEITH: Today we're looking for approval to use Lake
Avalon for the site for this event. We've gone through a lot of the
preliminaries with -- as I said, with the parks advisory council and
the police, the fire department and so on. It is a fruitful venue, we
believe, for this -- this event.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Constan -- or
Commissioner Hancock.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Mr. Chairman, when we graciously
accepted the Sugden's gift and began at Lake Avalon, we had talked
about it being avenue for similar events in a community locale. And
I don't know if I thought of something of this magnitude, but these
are the types of things I think we were looking for that would draw
the community to the park during the summer and so forth. So what I
understand Mr. Leith is asking for is just, in essence, a permission
to use the park should everything else fall in place for this event.
MR. LEITH: That's correct.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: This is not a binding vote on
future TDC funds. This is simply, you know, a direction that -- that
the park is a -- avenue for this type of an event should it come to
fruition. And if that's what you're asking, I'd like to make a motion
to -- well, I don't know if a motion is appropriate but maybe give
staff direction to --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Put it on the agenda.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: -- put it on the agenda.
MR. LEITH: Thank you. That's what we are looking for.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: If you're looking for counting,
there's two votes for that.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That is three. I mean, I was
looking at this and getting chills up my spine, because I remembered
from watching the 1976 display at the Washington Monument grounds,
which I was one of the million-plus people, and it was a beautiful
display. And I'm sure in the 20 years since it's gotten much better.
I guess that's three.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: That's what it takes. Three is a
majority.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Did the direction -- motion then to
bring this back on a regular agenda item?
MR. DORRILL: We'll schedule this, and they are
sophisticated enough to know there is a separate process for TDC
funds, and there will need to be the necessary contractual agreement
for the use of the site. But they're -- they fully understand all the
details, and we'll schedule that in short order.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Leith.
MR. LEITH: Thank you. Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: You'll be notified when this comes to
the regular agenda, of course.
Item #7C
MR. JOSEPH TRUPIANO, SR. REGARDGIN RESTRICTED USE OF PROPERTY - STAFF
TO RESEARCH AND BRING BACK TO BCC IF NECESSARY
Our next public petition is Mr. Joseph Trupiano, Senior.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: I'd hate to have to follow that one.
MR. TRUPIANO: May I have my friend to come and help a little bit?
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Of course.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: You can do whatever you want for ten minutes as
long as you don't get obscene.
MR. TRUPIANO: As long as I -- okay. I own this five-acre land on
Willoughby. For ten years I own this land. And first the county said
it was wetland. Now I be paying tax for ten years.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Excuse me, sir, you are Mr. Trupiano; is that
correct?
MR. TRUPIANO: And this is Mr. Frenlitolo (phonetic).
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
MR. TRUPIANO: Now, if the county will give me a --
something on this land, I'll be able to do something. But if they
don't give me nothing, why should I pay tax for ten year?
Now, there's something else that come up. They want me
to clean the land, and the guy wants $18,000 to clean the land. Now,
you want me to spend another $18,000, then I can't even get a use for
one lot, two, or three or four or whatever they want to give it to me
or they don't want me to develop. What I'm supposed to do? Tell me.
I need help. I can't pay no taxes no more until the county gives me
some kind of answer.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Chairman, I met with Mr.
Trupiano a number of months ago on this very subject and had asked him
to go back to our development services people and find out precisely
why he could not get a permit to develop any of the property that was
previously allowed and asked him to move forward in the -- in the
process and find out at what point -- whether it's the county or the
corps or the DEP or just who it is that's inhibiting him from this and
-- and I'm hoping that he's going to tell us today. I presume it's
the county, because he's here and hasn't gone to the corps or the --
or the DEP to seek some sort of relief.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: What I don't understand -- and
maybe I need some help from -- from Mr. Gutierrez, someone from
development services. We don't have jurisdictional authority on
wetlands. That's Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Water
Management District. We have only an ST overlay is my understanding.
So I'm a little confused how the county can designate a wetland. And,
Mr. Arnold, maybe you could -- if we've done that, tell me how we did
it because I'm not familiar with that process.
MR. TRUPIANO: Once they said this was a wetland --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Mr. Trupiano, let me go ahead and
get an answer from Mr. Arnold.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: How'd it happen?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah. Can you help us with --
MR. DORRILL: And to get the board oriented, my
understanding is that this piece of property is about five acres or
something less than that, and it's, I'll say, to the northwest of the
existing Willoughby Acres.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Is it zoned ag?
MR. DORRILL: I don't know.
MR. ARNOLD: For the record, Wayne Arnold of your
planning services department. I'm not familiar with Mr. Trupiano's
specific problems relative to this site, but this area north of
Willoughby does contain environmentally sensitive property. Some of
the other more recent subdivisions just north of Lakeland Avenue and
et cetera have had to go through permitting requirements with the Army
Corps and the South Florida Water Management District. The county has
no wetland jurisdiction.
And in this particular case I find it hard to believe
that none of the property could be developed. If that's the case and
it truly is wetland and the corps is maintaining jurisdiction over the
entirety of it, then I think maybe we should be dealing with the
property appraiser's office as far as the tax -- tax collector's
office in terms of relief in that respect. But from a planning
standpoint we have permitted other subdivisions in this general
vicinity so --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Now, what relief could we offer
him then for the removal of the exotics? I mean, if the gentleman's
been paying taxes on undevelopable property for however many years
it's been and now he's received a letter to remove exotics, I mean,
that -- that begins to look like -- if I had a mortgage on it, I'd
give the keys to the bank.
MR. ARNOLD: I'm not sure what the specific relief would
be. But apparently a complaint was given to our code enforcement.
That would be how a notice to remove exotics would have been issued.
And, of course, he would have to remove exotics prior to any land
development activity on the site anyway, at least in phases of
development.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: But he can't develop it, so why
did he get the letter then?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Well, hang on. We're getting a
little head of ourselves. Based on Mr. Trupiano's statement, we've
already jumped to the assumption that he cannot develop what is there,
that there are no benefits to the use of the land, then someone needs
to buy the land. If they're going to keep you from building a
single-family home on it, I think they need to buy the land. This is
a -- this may be a cost locations issue.
What we don't know is what authority has jurisdiction,
has issued jurisdiction over this property. It's not the county. We
have not said -- the county has not said we're declaring this wetland,
you can't build on it, that I'm aware of. We don't have that
authority. So what authority has said you can't build on it? That's
what I need to know.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. Well, we don't have that
information today. Mr. Arnold has stated he doesn't know the
specifics on this case. So what I think my suggestion would be is
let's ask Mr. Arnold to research this specific problem with Mr.
Trupiano and bring it back to us, if necessary, at a later date.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I'd also like to know more about
the exotic removal letter. If -- if the exotics are related to
development permits and he can't get a development permit, then what
-- what's the driving force on it?
MS. SULLIVAN: The exotic removal problem was just based
on a regular complaint of melaleuka that was called in, and we just
investigated it and sent out our usual letter.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: And your name for the record is?
MS. SULLIVAN: Sorry, Linda Sullivan, code enforcement
director.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay.
MR. TRUPIANO: But they want $18,000 to clean the land,
and I can't afford to put the money in there until I can use the
land. I asked for four lots at least, two in the front and two in the
back. We developed the lots two years ago, 15 lots next door, right
next door.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay, Mr. Trupiano. What -- what I
suggested was that you work with Mr. Arnold. Let him see if he can
help you with your problem. Find out the details and, if necessary,
bring it back here to the board of commissioners so that we can take
action on it. If there's no objections from the board, we'll let that
be the direction, and we'll try to work your problem out for you, Mr.
Trupiano.
MR. TRUPIANO: In the meantime you want me to go ahead
and keep spending money on the land? MR. DORRILL: No.
MR. TRUPIANO: They keep calling me --
MR. DORRILL: No. We'll stay or we will temporarily
suspend the removal of the exotic trees pending a report back to this
commission that will probably take at least two weeks. And we will
contact you either by phone or letter again when we're ready to
discuss, and we'll have a meeting with you, sir, before we bring this
back with the commission so that you'll understand and have all that
information.
MR. TRUPIANO: Okay. Well, I really appreciate whatever
you can do because, you know, ten years we pay tax -- CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
MR. TRUPIANO: -- and it keeps going. Now, they want
more money. I was ready to get a permit. I asked for four lots, and
they say, you know --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I understand that.
MR. TRUPIANO: If you want to buy it, if the county want
to buy it from me, that's okay with me.
MR. DORRILL: We understand. Just a simple Irish
businessman trying to earn a living up in North Naples. We'll do
whatever we can to help you.
MR. TRUPIANO: Okay. Thanks a lot.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you.
COHHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Dorrill, I hope when this
comes back we'll know what authority it is that has stopped him from
using his land.
MR. DORRILL: There are at least two, probably three
different questions, and it will take the better part of two weeks to
get that sorted out. But I believe they involve wetlands
jurisdictional issues as well as -- CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Exotics.
MR. DORRILL: -- current appraised value and exotics.
They all need to be addressed.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay. Thank you.
Item #SA1
RESOLUTION 96-121 APPROVING THE JOINT PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT WITH THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OF THE ISTEA ENHANCEMENT PROJECT -
C.R. 29 - ADOPTED
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you. We'll move on to 8(A)(1),
approval of a joint participation agreement with FDOT for the ISTEA
enhancement project for County Road 29.
MR. PERRY: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners.
My name is Jeff Perry, chief planner in the planning services
department. This item and the following item are two items related to
your pathway program. The first item is approval of a joint
participation agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation
for a federal ISTEA enhancement grant along County Road 29.
In 1994 the Board of County Commissioners agreed to
sponsor this particular project. There are $233,000 in federal ISTEA
funds allocated to this particular program for this particular
project. Originally the estimated local match was $23,800. The
engineering assessments, once completed, indicated that we would have
to overmatch to a point of $93,619.
However, in -- in recent history we've had a couple
other of these projects where the engineering estimates and the bids
when they finally came in were a lot lower than the original
estimates. In fact, we will be getting back -- on two other projects
we'll be getting back about $69,000 in overhead funds that were not
needed as result of the bids coming in lower than the engineering
estimates. But the state cannot move forward on the project until
they have all of the money committed. There are federal funds as well
as the local matching funds.
This particular project involves the construction of
bike lanes along County Road 29 south of U.S. 41 to Everglades City.
Yes, sir. We're asking the board to approve this grant today, this
participation agreement, and provide the necessary budget documents to
forward the funds to the DOT for their use on the project.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Constantine.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Motion to approve the item.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Second.
MR. DORRILL: You have a speaker as well, Mr. Chairman,
that I presume is here in support.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: The speaker is going to pass?
MR. CONWAY: I got caught under the gun. Mike Conway,
Pathways Advisory Committee chairman for Collier County HPO. I did
want to state that this area is an environmentally sensitive area, and
because of that reason when we have pathways in that area, we enhance
the tourism for Collier County.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you. We have a motion and a
second. If there's no further discussion, all those in favor, signify
by saying aye.
All opposed?
None.
Item #8A2
DESIGN AND ONSTRUCTION OF THE COLLIER COUNTY PATHWAY WORK PROGRAM
PROJECTS FOR FY 95-96 - APPROVED WITH CHANGES
We'll move to the next one, 8(A)(2).
MR. PERRY: This item, Mr. Chairman, is the approval of
the first-year priorities for the five-year pathway work program. The
Pathway Advisory Committee has reviewed the list of projects included
in the five-year work program, has ranked some of those projects. We
have provided to you a listing by district to indicate what kind of
projects are being constructed. There are a variety of projects, some
related to school construction needs. Others are parks and recreation
related types of projects.
In fact, one of the projects is around the new park that
we were just talking about a few moments ago. In fact, I'd like to
point out that there is a change in your executive summary. The -- in
the fiscal impact the fund 345, parks and recreation impact fee funds,
is actually $45,000 instead of the $20,000. That would cover the
entire cost of the estimated cost for the Outer Drive Lombardi project
which would go around the park area for the new regional park.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Looking at some of these projects, it
says that the location will be both sides, south side, east. Some of
them say missing links. That's not an anthropological term, is it?
MR. PERRY: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Constantine.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: In the Golden Gate area, as
you know -- I think all of you know, it was designed and put together
nearly 30 years ago, about 30 years ago, and had zero in the way of
sidewalks at the time. In the last couple of years we put a pretty
good piece of change into the Golden Gate community so we have
sidewalks by schools and by our parks.
There's one thing our -- between the civic association
and a couple of other groups are working on now, and there are
alleyways that run parallel and in between roads and properties that
have never been upkept by the county. One of the things we're looking
at is using that for in lieu of bike paths or sidewalks now, cleaning
those up some, looking at also having emergency access for the rear of
properties that way and particularly on our main roadways being able
to put the trash out there instead of out on Golden Gate Parkway or
Santa Barbara or the other main thoroughfares.
The cost initially for some of our -- some of the work
on that, we've got it broken into four pieces. It's about $13,000.
And I understand the way in which the advisory board broke this down
and took into consideration that we have given some money out there in
good sums in the past couple of years, but I wondered if we could do
-- just to make up that $13,000 difference so we can get that project
started, if we could take -- and I'm just picking these -- these
numbers -- out of district 2 just take $3,000; out of district 4 take
$3,000; and out of district 5 take $7,000 because they're getting 93,
and that will still leave all of you the bulk of what you need to get
your projects done but would allow that to get to start to move
forward.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I think -- if -- if I could, Mr.
Chairman, Mr. Perry was just telling us that we need to set the
$93,000 aside for FDOT in order to fully fund it. And I would be
willing -- if Commissioner Constantine could sit tight on this until
we know what the bids come in at and assuming that this will come in
lower than anticipated, take that $13,000 from the ninety-three when
it becomes available.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That would be great. Thanks.
MR. PERRY: The other -- the other alternative that I
might suggest to you is that if you subtract the PAC's priorities that
they're recommending to you from the total amount of revenue that's
available, there's an $81,000 surplus. That's being held back for
contingencies and design reimbursements for your capital projects and
contracts to actually design the projects. And there, again, if -- if
there's an additional refund, if you will, from the overmatch on the
ISTEA project that, of course, could be as high as $70,000
additionally to that. So there should be additional funds available
for projects like that or even going into some of the other projects
on the list once we get a handle on the design of what you are
approving today. And that would simply be another alternative rather
than -- if those funds are available after you've paid all the bills,
then we could actually go into that surplus for this fiscal year and
take it out without getting into the other district.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Let me ask, Commissioner Constantine,
make sure I'm clear. This is funding for pathway projects. And did I
understand that you were saying that -- that you wanted to use some of
this money for alleyways?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah, the idea of the
alleyways is actually because there are no sidewalks or bike paths in
the majority of the Golden Gate community, is use those -- use the
existing alleyways which aren't cleared and in some instances at this
point are four-wheel-drive material and just bring them to a scale
where kids and adults can travel back there, either walking or
bicycling. We're trying to have a little bike network throughout
Golden Gate.
MR. PERRY: It would actually be greenways and pathways
within the alley -- instead of adjacent to the roadways, there would
be greenways and pathways in the alleys.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: But you also did mention putting
the trash out. If you're going to have garbage trucks --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Only on the main
thoroughfares, Golden Gate Parkway and Santa Barbara.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I had two questions, Mr. Perry,
if I may.
MR. PERRY: Yes, sir.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I'd like to thank the Pathway
Advisory Committee for Vanderbilt Drive. That's one of the most
heavily used sidewalks in all of Collier County. I mean, any day go
up there between, you know, nine in the morning and sunset, and it's
just tremendous. So thank you for that priority.
The second thing is on Seventh Street I've caught wind
of some recent discussions regarding -- Seventh and Naples Park has a
sidewalk on one side. Is this money to put the sidewalk on the other
side because of its proximity to Naples Park Elementary, because
there's also been some discussion about whether we would be better
served by a sidewalk on Sixth and on Seventh instead of two on
Seventh? And I don't know where that discussion is or whether you've
had it at the Pathway Advisory Committee, but I've caught wind of
that, and I wanted to bring it up as a question before approving
this. If we can approve it with the flexibility of investigating
which of those is more beneficial to Naples Park and the kids that go
to the elementary school there, that would be fine by me. I just want
to make sure that discussion is had, whether it has been --
MR. PERRY: I'm going to ask Anita Chapman, your bicycle
pathway coordinator. She has all the specifics on the individual
projects.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay.
MS. CHAPMAN: That concern was brought to our attention
through a citizen who lives in Naples Park after the pathway advisory
had finished prioritizing these projects. If you will notice, Sixth
and Eighth Street are both in the five-year work program.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Uh-huh.
MS. CHAPMAN: And the PAC did, in fact, prioritize
Seventh Street based on the needs of the elementary school and the
request from the principal of the elementary school that came in while
the PAC was prioritizing these projects.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. So Jerry Hartwig had input
on that and said this is what we need the most? MS. CHAPMAN: Yes, yes.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. That's fine. As long as
the discussion had been made. I thank you.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Constantine.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Chairman, I'd like to
make a motion we approve the PAC-recommended projects scheduled for
fiscal year 1996 and direct OPC and administrator of the pathway
projects with -- realizing going toward -- if we have a surplus going
toward the alleyway project in Golden Gate.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I'll second that.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Excuse me. Is the alleyway
project defined somewhere?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yes. It's defining right
now. We have some numbers defined on it right now in four steps, and
I'd just like to go ahead and get that first step started.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Can we say up to $13,0007
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah, that's fine.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: So the motion is amended to reflect up
to $13,0007
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Correct.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: The second amends.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: The second amends. Speakers, Mr.
Dotrill?
MR. DORRILL: No, sir.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I've got one question, Mr.
Chairman, before we call it. Mr. Perry, I know this is on location
and design and so forth, but I had some calls over the weekend on the
new Golden Gate Boulevard pathway that was just recently constructed.
And in that really little bit of rain that we had Saturday morning,
that was underwater. Is there anything we can do to take a look at
remedying that problem, because this summer it's going to be bad?
MR. PERRY: I'll -- we'll have to check into it. I have
not seen -- I haven't even seen the completed job out there, so we'll
have to look at it and then check into -- find out what the drainage
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It's a brand new pathway that
went from the library out to Wilson, and substantial sections of it
are lower than the street grade --
MR. PERRY: Okay.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: -- and collected a lot of
water.
MR. PERRY: Okay. We'll look into it.
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Thanks.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: If there's nothing further, we have a
motion and second. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
There are none.
Item #8A4
EXCAVATION PERMIT NO. 59.564 "MCCALL EXCAVATION" LOCATED IN SEC. 45,
T485, R28E, BOUNDED ON THE NORTH BY 54TH AVENUE N.E., ON THE WEST BY
40TH STREET N.E. AND ON THE SOUTH AND EAST BY UNDEVELOPED LAND ZONED
ESTATES - APPROVED
The next item is 8(A)(4), excavation permit number
59.564.
MR. ARNOLD: Good morning. For the record, Wayne Arnold
of your planning services staff. This is an item that began as a
public petition a couple months ago. Mr. McCall had requested
excavation on his property and wanted to off-site haul his material to
his brother's residence. But because he had filed for private
excavation and not a commercial excavation, we were not able to handle
his request.
What we have before us is the request to do this as a
commercial excavation, hauling the material by licensed commercial
hauler to various points within the county in the immediate vicinity
of this property in the Corkscrew area. This is an approximately
2-acre excavation. Yes.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: If I may, Mr. Arnold, I notice
here a statement regarding dewatering. I know it's a boilerplate
statement, but based on residential character of that area and the
past history, I don't -- in my opinion, I don't think dewatering would
be appropriate because there's really nowhere to put high volumes of
water, you know, in that area that I'm aware of. So from the
engineering side, I would like to see dewatering either removed, or
I'd like to know where the -- you know, where is this water supposed
to go when they dewater, because we're talking about significant
volumes in a short period of time.
MR. ARNOLD: I have Mr. Chrzanowski who might be able to
answer that specifically.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I figured Stan might address
this.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: Good morning. Stan Chrzanowski,
C-h-r-z-a-n-o-w-s-k-i, with engineering review. If they dewater,
they'll probably put some type of containment on the site. I don't
expect they will dewater. They said they wouldn't. The -- we didn't
require borings because it's such a small site. We went by the soil
survey which shows sand down to an elevation of about 7 feet. We
expect they'll probably go the full 12 feet without hitting rock.
Dewatering shouldn't be a problem. They shouldn't have to do it.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. I just -- your statement
that it would be contained on site is important to me.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: If -- if they dewater, the standard
procedure is to build some kind of containment dewatering can work
out. Basically you recycle the water, but you pump faster than it
percs so --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Than it percs, okay. Thank you.
MR. CHRZANOWSKI: You're welcome.
MR. ARNOLD: One of the other issues here is that Mr.
McCall had requested a waiver of the surety bond which staff really
doesn't have a problem with. This is a really short-term excavation,
and we are getting our impact fees for the roads and the other permit
fees applicable to the site.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Any speakers, Mr. Dorrill?
MR. DORRILL: No, sir.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I'd like to make a motion we
approve the item, and even though staff doesn't expect the dewatering
would become a problem, I would like to have a stipulation in here
that they dewater on site.
MR. ARNOLD: That would be fine. We can add that
directly to the excavation permit.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
There are none.
Item #SB1
PILOT PROGRAM FOR WEEKLY YARDWASTE COLLECTION IN THE DISTRICT TWO
IHMOKALEE SOLID WASTE SERVICE AREA - APPROVED
Next item is 8(B)(1), pilot program for weekly yard
waste collection in Immokalee.
MR. RUSSELL: For the record, David Russell, solid waste
department. This item seeks your approval for a six-month pilot
program for weekly yard waste collection in the Immokalee service area
rather than the current monthly program.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: This is just -- excuse me. This
is just in district 2 what we're already doing in district 17 MR. RUSSELL: That's correct.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: With no other changes?
MR. RUSSELL: That's correct.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: No fee increase?
MR. RUSSELL: That's correct.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I'll make a motion to approve.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
Item #883
FUNDING AND WAIVER OF FORMAL BIDDING PROCEDURES FOR AN EMERGENCY
OPENING OF THE CLAM PASS INLET - APPROVED
Next item is 8(B)(3), the Clam Pass emergency permit.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Deja vu all over again.
MR. GONZALEZ: Good morning, Commissioners. Adolfo
Gonzalez -- CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Gonzalez, I got a question. This
seems to be an annual occurrence here. Is there some way -- what do
we have to do to get a continuing permit?
MR. GONZALEZ: Yes, this is one of your routine
emergency types of activities. We're working this year -- we have
made progress since last year. We are working through the interim
inlet management plan and, as a matter of fact, the permit agencies we
spoke to have all said, go ahead, we'll probably give you the permit.
Although they haven't actually given us the permit yet, they have
tentatively agreed to the concept, but they have conditioned it upon
us trying to either pursue a long-term dredging permit or finishing
the inlet management which we're both scheduled to do next year.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Are these long-term dredging permits
-- are they adopted as part of an inlet management plan or what sort
of a plan?
MR. GONZALEZ: That would be one of the recommendations
in the inlet management plan, yes.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: So not only Clam Pass but other passes
could have long-term dredging permits incorporated into the plan and,
therefore, we wouldn't have to go through these procedures every time;
is that correct?
MR. GONZALEZ: If the plan would recommend dredging, we
would then have to apply for a dredging permit, and that's consistent
with what we're doing at other passes. So, yes, we need to apply for
a long-term dredging permit. They're saying that -- the agencies are
saying -- they promised to give us one more so that next year -- but
before next year occurs, have that long-term dredging permit
allocation in hand.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: And that -- that would apply whether
or not we have an inlet management plan, or does the inlet -- does the
inlet management plan facilitate the permitting process?
MR. GONZALEZ: Yes, because that would be a key
component of the plan. CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Mr. Gonzalez, we had nearly the
same discussion a year ago. And what I need to know is at that time
my recollection is that, you know, we were close to a -- a long-term
dredging permit or that it was in the works. And now a year later,
you know, we're -- we're going through the same steps. And we're no
closer it appears than a year ago. Is this because of the permitting
agencies? Is it because of not having enough staff time or resources,
or have we proceeded with all speed? I'm just -- you know, it's kind
of a year later, and it's the same -- the same thing all over again.
And obviously I'm concerned about the staff time that it has taken to
get this -- this taken care of, and the cost multipliers is just going
to be ridiculous unless we can get something long term in place.
So I know we're saying by this time next year we'll have
it. Do we have assurances from the permitting agencies that that is
going to be the case, or are we going to be sitting here 12 months
from now having the same discussion and the same expenditures? I'm
looking for some insight knowledge there that I don't have.
MR. GONZALEZ: I can convey a sense of optimism to you
that we are closer than we were last year. Last year we were just
starting around -- the process started the inlet management. We were
just doing the research element. Now we finished the analysis; we're
getting into the public hearing stage of it. And because of that the
agencies are willing to give us this one more shot of interim dredging
until we get the final plan in place with the recommendations and then
possibly pursue a long-term dredging permit.
They're telling us that that's exactly what we're going
to have to do before next year occurs so that if it happens again next
year if -- if we have a bad-weather season, that we'll have the plan
in place, the recommendations in place, and the process in place to
take care of it truly as a routine matter next year.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: And will the inlet management
plan go further inside the inlet than this emergency opening does,
because we continue to get an accumulation inside the inlet that makes
it easier for the pass to clog up, yet we're not able to address that
larger bulk of deposits that are further restricting the flow? Will
the inlet management plan address that area also?
MR. GONZALEZ: Yes, it should. That's exactly what
happened this year. The amount of the pass that was closed this year
is greater than what closed last year. It was at the very tip of the
-- the opening. Now it's extended all the way from the -- the beach
side into the mouth of -- of the pass.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. So that will be included
in the inlet management plan? We are going to reach inside the pass a
little further and get some of those deposits in there after this
emergency action? When we look at this next year, we're going to go
to that level of cleaning out if we're permitted to?
MR. GONZALEZ: If we're permitted and it's consistent
with the conclusions in the inlet management plan, yes.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. Motion to approve.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second. Any
speakers, Mr. Dotrill?
MR. DORRILL: No, sir.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: All those in favor, signify by saying
aye.
Opposed?
There are none.
Item #SD1
RESOLUTION 96-122 REGARDING THE 1996 FISCAL YEAR PAY AND CLASSIFICATION
PLAN - ADOPTED
The next one is 8(D)(1), the fiscal -- 1996 fiscal year
pay and classification plan. Miss Edwards, while you're coming up,
I'd like to take a moment and ask the board members if they all
received the memo that I wrote concerning this -- this item. Last --
last week when we were looking at this and in the years past as well,
it has been strange to me that the Board of County Commissioners would
be in the middle of setting pay scales. It just doesn't seem like
it's our function. That's the manager's function, in my opinion. Our
-- our function is to set policy and set budget, but within that
budget it's the manager's function to set these pay scales, okay. But
I just don't believe that it's -- it's our job to get in here and
micro manage by trying to adjust this pay scale or that pay scale.
So I did a bit of research and found out why we do
this. And the reason we do this is because of an ordinance passed in
1983. Number 83-7 requires us to do this. A little bit more history
research shows that the reason this was done was because the county
commission at that time wanted more oversight over the county manager
and, therefore, they passed this ordinance where they could get in and
tinker with the pay scales and that sort of thing.
I don't believe that's our function at all. I would be
in favor of and I will make the suggestion that we rescind Ordinance
83-7, that we look at the amount of budget that is being proposed, let
the manager justify any budget that would be proposed in the future,
and that we let him adjust the pay scales. That's his function.
The matter of oversight is very simple to overcome. We
have a third-party auditor on contract at all times, and this
third-party auditor could periodically, say even annually or
biannually, look at the pay scales that the manager has in place and
give us a report independently of what their opinion of those pay
scales are. So oversight's very easy to overcome, and this gets the
Board of County Commissioners out of the management and administrative
function side of the pay. And so I know we're going to probably see a
presentation here. But my suggestion, once again, is to rescind
Ordinance 83-7. Commissioner Constantine.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I agree with you that we certainly
shouldn't be getting into how much individual positions make or those
classifications and so on. I do think the overall policy -- it's
important that that come before us. And the example here -- this
will have a 2.2 million dollar impact annually, and some of that's
general fund, and some of that's not. But it's a big dollar impact
overall, and I think the policy needs to come to us. CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Absolutely.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I used several examples last week of
how much individual positions were making, and that was not to
-- and I think I clarified at the end of the meeting that was
certainly not for us to tinker with those numbers, but I think it's
important for us to understand where that dollar comes from that you
show, just like you did where we're at and where you think we need to
be at. But you're absolutely right. We don't need to be tinkering
with individual positions within that.
I haven't read the ordinance. I have read your memo,
but I have not read 83-54. But depending on its content, I'd be
willing to entertain that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hac'Kie.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: I'd just like to -- it sounds
like three -- three votes for repeal. I, again, haven't read the
ordinance, but I didn't understand why we did get involved in the
level of scrutiny that we have over particular salaries. Absolutely
the scrutiny that we would have would be in the budget process, and we
would ask all the questions that we asked last week and are asking
today perhaps but -- but as a part of the budget process. This seems
extraordinary and outside the scope of policy making that we're
supposed to be doing.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: In fairness to the manager
and his staff, I guess we're looking for a budget amendment in order
to achieve the half-year, and that's why we're doing it now as opposed
to strictly in the budget process.
MR. DORRILL: This -- this is officially called a
supplemental budget request, and that's why the funding scenario was
the main thing. And just one point of clarification, and I discussed
this with the chairman yesterday when he asked to talk to me about
this. He is in no way suggesting that the board eliminate its policy
overview concerning the personnel rules and regulations, and that is
an ordinance, and that is very important policy distinction that the
board should make, and that is not what we're talking about here.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hancock.
COHHISSIONER HANCOCK: I'm going to stop short of supporting the
repeal of something I haven't read. COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Yeah.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: But -- and that's probably a larger nut
than we need to crack today anyway. I like the -- I'm more than happy
to talk about it at the appropriate time, but I'd like to go ahead and
get today's agenda item done and through, and I'll start off by saying
I have no questions.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Well, I feel the same way. I
can't sign on to repealing something I haven't read either. I'd like
to read the ordinance, but -- but the concept that -- that the
chairman talks about I fully support. Our overview is with the
numbers of dollars, generally what they're for but not -- not the
detail. That's -- that's the manager's job -- CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: -- and whether we address it
through internal control measures or whether we address it through our
annual audit, either way, as long as it gets done.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I didn't intend to indicate that we
were going to repeal the ordinance today. COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We can't.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Obviously it needs to come before us
on a regular scheduled agenda item at which point everybody will get a
good look at it.
MS. MATTHEWS: I presume, though, Mr. Dorrill, you'll
make sure we all get a copy of it, this ordinance?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I just asked Hiss Filson to
make a copy and distribute it.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Thanks.
MR. DORRILL: The intent of the presentation today,
depending on the extent which the board wants to learn this, you had
asked us for supplemental information and a breakdown, a further
detailed analysis of turnover. You had asked us for some parity
issues. Mr. Constantine asked specifically for a private briefing on
the point factorization determination and some of the funding
scenarios, all of which do have budget implications next year. And
that's why we endeavor to try to answer the questions and provide that
supplemental information before you were to take action on the budget
policies so that you, in fairness, would know what the extent and the
breadth of that is. I think at this point we would be happy to answer
questions that you have, and then I have one final suggestion
concerning the administration of this before you take a vote.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Yes.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I think yesterday -- or last
week -- yesterday -- the weeks are flying by so fast. Last week my
only main question that I asked -- asked Mr. Dotrill to address was
the parity issues, not only within his own agency, which I'm sure
he'll -- he'll manage and solve, but the parity issues between
specifically the sheriff's department and -- and the manager's
agency. I'm -- I'm just a little bit concerned that the manager's
going to have a lot of trouble keeping noncertified deputy people on
his payroll and not have them move over to the sheriff because the
sheriff is going to be paying substantially more money. And I -- and
that's an issue that we've got to address, because we're going to --
this 17 percent turnover that we're trying to address or he's trying
to address probably won't improve if we keep paying other agencies
more money than we're paying his agency.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Of course, the sheriff's haven't
given any of them any raises yet. I don't know what he's done with
that money so far.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Well, he's done nothing with it
so far. It's my understanding, Commissioner Hac'Kie, that even though
we gave him less money than he was looking for, he delayed
implementing it until he had enough money to implement it a hundred
percent.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: It's still not implemented.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: This is something that we're
going to -- I don't want to get off on a tangent on the sheriff's
budget. You're absolutely right. We cut the amount back and sent a
message, you know, pick and choose understanding next year's budget
crunch. And it looks like it's going to further invitation, which is
creating the situation Commissioner Matthews is talking about where a
secretary over there is making X amount and ours is making Y. All we
can do is base our positions on like positions in like counties and
like living conditions elsewhere. If the sheriff, you know, wants to
pay his folks $3,000 more than our folks in the same type of job
classification, that's between him and the taxpayers. That's not our
job to get into. But I certainly agree to bring it to the forefront.
That we have similar job classifications making dramatically different
salaries even after this adjustment is something we're going to have
to -- to recognize.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Frankly, if that budget
direction doesn't go where our discussion went a couple of months ago
with the sheriff's department, we'll need to decide how we're going to
deal with that. That's our decision at budget time, but we'll deal
with that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Let's see if we can continue with our
item today. Do any of the board members have any questions here for
Miss Edwards?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: What you put together answered
the two main questions I had with you after last -- last meeting, so
I'm appreciative of the information you've provided us. CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Do we have any public speakers?
MS. EDWARDS: I would like to add that my staff and I
have met with Mary Havenet, who was the employee who came to you last
week at the board meeting, and we're working with her to answer all of
her questions. And if we need to make corrections, we will.
MR. DORRILL: My -- there are no registered speakers,
and I wanted to advise the board my intent on the implementation of
this is to try and do it as cost effectively as we can. The board
will remember last week the consultant told you there were three
implementation scenarios. One would only be to bring people up to the
new entry level if they are below new entry level. The other two
recommendations were to try and put the existing employees in some
relative similar position of where they are in their current range.
And I just want to advise the board that it would be my intent to look
at every individual position to see what is the most appropriate thing
to do. That, from my perspective, eliminates any single or group
windfall, perhaps at the expen -- at the extent of all the
circumstances. Let me give you an example. If someone was a
preexisting employee but just received a promotion prior to October
the 1st and then they were also eligible to receive a COLA on October
the 1st that already put them above the entry level for the position
that they were promoted to, I wouldn't want them to receive another
extraordinary increase if -- if there's no demonstrated problem with
that position. What I'm telling you is that I will probably review
and have human resources review every single position to see what is
the most equitable but cost-effective scenario. The overall -- what
I'm telling you is that while the implementation cost is estimated at
the number that it is, I intend to bring it in under that, and it's
certainly not going to be any more than that, but I want to go back
and scrutinize these prior to the actual date of implementation.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Constantine.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I want to thank you all for
meeting with me this week to help clarify some of the questions I had,
particularly on methodology. We had discussed and I discussed with
the manager a couple of different scenarios and a couple of different
concerns. The -- in September our employees received a three or three
and a half percent raise.
MS. EDWARDS: Three point five.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Three point five. And we're
looking here average percent on nonexempt is 8.6. So in six months
that's about 12 percent. And then the concern had been that in
September there's another 3 percent or whatever we come up with during
the budgeting process, but that's then in a 12-month period a 15
percent increase. I know a couple of -- I've heard a suggestion from
one of the local civic groups -- I don't know if it was on Rich King
or where -- that perhaps in the fall we shouldn't give any increase,
or perhaps in the upcoming year we shouldn't give any increase. It
seems to me that kind of defeats the purpose of what we're trying to
do of bringing them up to scale here, but realizing -- I will say
this; realizing two increases in six months -- I don't know if there's
a way. And this is a budget issue, but I just wanted to throw it out,
put it in the back of your head, is either phase in on anniversary
date or have a particular date other than October 1 to phase in next
year so we still make sure there is some increase during next year, we
don't just stop, because I think that kind of makes this useless if we
do that. But my concern from a budgetary standpoint is if we -- I
understand it increase -- six months later, we have a big jump, six
months later we have another healthy jump budget-wise. I want to make
sure we still have an increase for our employees but budget-wise play
with that a little bit.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Well, again, let me throw this
out, because this is in the county manager's purview to implement this
whatever way he feels is best based on the amount of money that we
give him. And if -- if he were to choose to implement this pay plan
in stages over the next 6 to 12 months -- 6 to 8 months really, he --
he would accomplish exactly what you're here talking about, and we
could avoid the three and a half percent COLA by implementing this in
stages. And it would also help us a little bit with the budget next
year to the tune of -- what'd we figure, Mr. Dotrill, half a million
dollars? Something like that.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And that's something we'll
need to decide in budget policy, but I just wanted to throw it out,
get the wheels turning for everybody. We'll decide in the coming
months.
MR. DORRILL: We're not opposed to the board adjusting
the COLA allowance in the fiscal policy. And just hypothetically, if
I understand what he's saying, is that in lieu of a 3 percent cost of
the living increase for the entire year, the board may want to give
something less than that as a budgetary savings mechanism, which would
then force me to give 3 percent but wait until midyear, which would
save one and a half percent of the total payroll. That's one of those
mechanisms that I think probably needs to be discussed briefly as part
of the next item for directions and to prepare the individual
budgets. And my only concern is, as always, if you're going to set
the policy, that it should be countywide and -- and apply -- in terms
of your appropriation, apply evenly to every employee but at the
discretion as to how to implement it based on the agency managers.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Let's hear from our public speaker.
MR. DORRILL: Hiss Kinzel is registered on this item.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Hiss Kinzel, I want to remind you that
this is a discussion of the county manager's payroll plan, not the
sheriff's.
MS. KINZEL: I understand that, Commissioner, and I'm
for the record, Crystal Kinzel, the finance director for the sheriff's
office. I did not want to leave out, however, some misperceptions
regarding the sheriff's pay plan, and I think there are some very
valid differences in those lower scales. The comments were made that
the sheriff's paying $2,000 more --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Hiss Kinzel, I would suggest that
you request this item be scheduled as a discussion of the sheriff's
budget at some other time. This is a discussion of the county
manager's budget, and that's what we're discussing here today,
period.
MS. KINZEL: Okay. Then I'll reverse it just a little
bit, and I'd like to make a comment on -- looking at the county
manager's budget, the differences in his budget compared to the
sheriff's office budget are primarily in the upper echelon. At the
sheriff's --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Hiss Kinzel, that's an end run,
and it completely ignores what I just said.
MS. KINZEL: Well, I was trying to --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: The discussion we had up here is
the only time we can talk to each other, okay. So we're going to talk
about things occasionally that you may want to have input on. But
it's not an agenda item. The sheriff's budget is not an issue today,
period.
MS. KINZEL: I understand that, Commissioner. I was
trying to clarify --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I don't think you did.
MS. KINZEL: -- some of the prior comments that were
made regarding the sheriff's pay plan.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Then you can set up -- fine, set
up a meeting with my secretary.
MS. KINZEL: We'll do that. Thank you.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: There's public comment available
if you'd like to participate in that.
MR. DORRILL: There are no other speakers.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: I would think we could be more polite --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I didn't see her on the ballot.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: -- to the representatives of other
constitutional officers.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. We do not have another public speaker --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: You guys been watching those
republican debates too much.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Do we have a motion?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'll make a motion to approve the item.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second. All those in
favor, signify by saying aye.
Those opposed?
There are none. I'd like to ask the board if we could
have a motion to bring back for rescission Ordinance 83-7.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: I'd like to review it first.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, that's your opportunity to review it.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I think we've already given that
direction, that we've asked to have the ordinance distributed among
us, and I would hope just from that that Mr. Dotrill over the next
couple of weeks from conversations with us does exactly that.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Matter of fact, any one of us
can put that on the agenda. So why don't you put it on for a couple
of weeks.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: There you go.
MR. DORRILL: We need to advertise it, and that will
take about 30 days.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I'd like to see it.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Just an information item, you
had on our agenda thing, and of this -- COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Agenda thing.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Agenda thing. Seventeen
percent turnover last year and fourteen percent the previous two
years. Do you have any idea what over the past five or six or seven
years?
MR. DORRILL: Year to date it's 3 percent.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: The year -- years prior to
those, do you have any idea? I mean, was that three year a big jump,
or was that fairly standard through the '90s?
MR. DORRILL: I'll say that it's swaying up from 9 to 10
to 14 to what was awful last year agency-wide, which was 17, and you
correct me if I've just misstated that. MS. EDWARDS: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Seventeen last year.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: To date this year we're on a
better track?
MR. DORRILL: That's cumulative in terms, so it could
worsen over the next two quarters, but it's -- we hope this sends a
good signal to your employees.
Item #BE1
DISCUSSION REGARDING ADOPTION OF THE FY 97 BUDGET POLICY - STAFF
DIRECTED TO BRING PROPOSED CUTS BACK ON 3/26/96; BUDGET WORKSHOP DATES
TO BE CHOSEN AT 3/12/96 MEETING AND RESOLUTION 96-123 THE CLERK OF THE
COURT. THE SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS AND THE SHERIFF TO SUBMIT THEIR
BUDGETS BY HAY 1 WITH A TWO WEEK GRACE PERIOD - ADOPTED
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you. Next item, please.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: While he's coming up could I just
say how much I appreciate having the opportunity to do this and how
much I appreciate your responsiveness to some of the comments I made
last year in the budget process, that this looks like a great
improvement, and I really appreciate it.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Thank you. For the record, Michael
Smykowski, Collier County budget director. We have a twofold purpose
this morning; one for the board to reach a consensus on the policies
that would guide the development of the FY '97 budget and, two, to set
board workshop dates in June. The focus of my presentation initially
will be on broad general policy areas, and then we'll focus on the
three-year analysis of the ad valorem tax supported funds.
The first major policy area is the budget presentation
format. And the recommended FY '97 process would consolidate the
program budget and line-item budget processes into a single step. As
you will recall, the board at times -- decisions were deferred during
the program budget process as a result of not having the actual FY '97
cost data available at that time. So I recall distinctly the phrase,
"we'll see that again in June," crop up many times. Obviously this
then created a redundancy in the budget review process. The
consolidated process that is being recommended was supported and also
recommended by the productivity committee in their report to the board
in January.
The consolidated process would provide program summary
information along with actual FY '97 cost data and millage rates. In
keeping with the board's expressed desire to simplify the budget
process and to serve in more of a board of directors' capacity,
presentations would be in a summary format at the fund level. Last
year budget presentations were along -- were along functional lines.
For instance, in the public services division you reviewed the parks
and recs department, which has general fund components, which has a
component in the unincorporated area general fund. It has a grant
fund, which has -- also it has the Golden Gate Community Center, which
is an HSTU, and we kind of flipped through that crossing funds lines,
and I think that created some confusion upon the part of the board
members in terms of decisions they made on one of those budgets, which
fund and revenue source ultimately they're affecting. So what we are
proposing this year is to run on a fund -- on a fund basis from A to Z
we would focus. And the examples I have in the -- in the document
here would be general fund from A to Z, everything inclusive of the
board budgets, the county manager's entire agency, the constitutional
officers, the capital, the 7 million dollars of capital projects that
are supported by the general fund, on down the line.
MR. DORRILL: This -- this is a colossal change from
what the board has ever done since the board's been doing budgets.
You're going to sit as a -- almost a board of directors and take a
balance sheet approach to reviewing expenses. And you will receive --
we'll start with fund 001, which is the general fund, and you're going
to see the revenue projections for that fund, and then you will see
every expense department in that fund at the same time. This gives
the board a much more clear continuity of thought as you're going
through and comparing a long list of appropriations to the revenues
that you have on hand. And we will exhaust every expense in that fund
before then we move to the next fund. Hajor, major change, and I
think helps the board be able to balance each fund before they -- they
begin to look at other requests from other departments and other
funds. Hajor change, and Hike has done an excellent job at formatting
all of this.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: There are examples. If you turn to page
22 in your package, that kind of outlines sample general fund
materials. Page 23 outlines the total general fund revenues that were
adopted this year, roughly 101 million dollars.
Page 24 provides a macro summary at the divisional level
of general fund expenses. For example, you'll note in the expanded
column under support services there was a million twenty-two thousand
two hundred dollars in approved expandeds in the FY '96 budget. If
the board were interested, we would kind of use a -- an exception
reporting basis and that the board -- obviously I think, most expanded
services the board is interested in, what those are all about and what
proposed enhancements are being proposed in the upcoming year. If
they wanted further detail of the support services division, we'd move
from a macro, kind of working back toward a micro level.
On page 32 is a summary of the support services division
in the general fund. And this provides just a little narrative
identifying the departments that comprise the support services
division. There's a pie chart that shows the relative proportion of
the support services division to the general fund. There was also a
bar chart that shows the relative dollar allocation amongst the
departments within the support services division. Obviously in this
example EHS and facilities management are by far the largest
expenditure areas within the support services division.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Not only words but pictures.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Pictures, too.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: That's so good.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Great, very good.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I think it just helps you visualize,
again, the relative proportion of both the general fund and then
within -- within each division.
On page 33 then is a divisional summary of support
services with a breakdown by individual departments so kind of, again,
moving toward more of a micro level. This just takes, for example,
the million twenty-two thousand two hundred dollars in expanded -- you
can see across which departments that is spread on page 33. For
example, EHS is six sixty-five four hundred of that total. And on the
following page 34 is just a short narrative outlining each of the
proposed expanded services that are indicated numerically on the
previous page, so it's kind of a one-stop shop there. You can --
without flipping multiple pages, there's a synopsis of the support
services division overall.
In funds -- in funds where the board has a limited
policy-making role such as debt service, a number of your
single-purpose taxing districts where the -- where the budgets and
proposed expenditures are established by citizen advisory groups, for
example, a lot of the beautification HSTUs and their -- also their
millage is governed by an ordinance restriction or limitation as well
as the expendable trust funds. Those we can aggregate and present at
a macro level. And therews an example on page 66 and 67 of the trust
funds as a whole. On page 66 therews an outline of the purpose of
trust funds and, again, going along the fund lines, what -- what a
trust fund is set up for, what the -- a listing of the major trust
funds that Collier County utilizes, where the revenue comes from
within each of those trust funds, and the proposed -- the major
proposed use of the available dollars. On page 67 then is a -- a
summary sheet of all of the trust funds.
Program summary information on -- we would also have
available, if need be, go to the ultimate micro detail, as we have in
the past, would be the departmental budget book pages, and this would
-- wewre proposing to have the allocation of resources on a
programatic basis along with the actual departmental financial budget
information. We would, again, utilize the same definition for base
level of service. We would not propose a comprehensive page-by-page
review of programs. We would be looking for board direction up front
in terms of proposed service levels, proposed millage rates,
et cetera, and then the manager and his staff would bring back a
budget meeting the criteria established as part of the budget policy.
There is a sample as well of the library department on
page 68 and 69 in your package. On page 68 is the library -- the
beginning of the library departmental summary page that identifies a
-- the goal of the department and also provides the program summary
information that the board has typically seen in prior years. A major
change, though, obviously is that the FY w97 cost data with a grand
total at the bottom of the page of two million five eighty-two three
hundred tying in -- tying in to the grand total on the actual
line-item budget detail on the following page.
So this would be -- if the board were interested,
obviously we would start out with the general fund, public services,
support services. Then if the board had questions on an exception
basis, we could go to the divisional summary with a breakdown by
department. And then if the board were further interested in going to
the next level of detail, that would be the departmental budget book
page that you have typically seen in the past.
MR. DORRILL: The rationale for that, frankly, is to
just stop flipping page after page after page. It gets a little
mesmerizing over time. And, frankly, it is unnecessary if you donwt
have the balance sheet-type questions. That way it directs your
interests -- youwre interested in obviously the biggest budgets or the
biggest increases, and youwll see that on the front page. Then
everybody who is in that fund will be here in the audience that day,
and we can turn and look at any level of detail that you or members of
the public choose.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Okay. That concludes that major policy
area. And we hope that was in meeting with some of the comments the
board members had in the past in terms of possible improvements to the
process.
The next item is on constitutional officers, budget
submission dates. Florida Statute provides that the bulk of the
constitutional officer budgets be submitted on June 1. However,
Florida Statute also makes a provision whereby the board through
adopting a resolution could request the constitutional officers to
submit their tentative budgets on Hay 1 as opposed to June 1.
Obviously FY '97 is going to be the difficult year in terms of the
general fund with the potential for a millage increase there. Again,
coupled with the expressed desire to provide budget information
available to the BCC as well as the general public with as much review
time as possible prior to workshop dates, it's recommended that the
board adopt a resolution requiring the sheriff, clerk, and supervisor
to submit tentative budgets by --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Chairman, can I interrupt?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Sure.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: If the constitutional officers
were to -- were to submit their budgets as they have in the past on
June the 1st, what is the earliest date that you could get the budget
information to this board and to the public?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Last year we had the workshops on the
14th, and it was probably the day before.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That doesn't give us a lot of
time or --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: No, and I can tell you why. A, the
budgets do not come in until June 1. In addition, we do not get the
tentative tax roll, preliminary tax roll from the property appraiser,
until June 1. So we have to drop a lot of numbers in to calculate
what the millage picture looks like. We have to analyze, compile, and
format the constitutional officers' budgets, not only within their own
funds, but each of those has a component where their principal funding
source is from the general fund, and it's just a matter of -- a matter
of timing that, unfortunately, with a June 1 submission date, that is
not going to improve much.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay. Now, the second half of
my question, if we adopt the MAy 1st submission date, what will be the
earliest date that you can get the information to us and the public?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: It would be my goal to have it a week
ahead of time. Obviously that depends on when the board would have
the --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That's still not a lot.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: MAybe I've missed something
here. But if you get them June 1st, you can have it to us by June
13th. If we get it MAy 1st, wouldn't it go by reason that we wouldn't
get it by mid MAy?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: But he also mentioned that the
property appraiser's got to plug in figures June 1st as well.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: The departments within the county
manager's authority are not submitting -- we're having initial budget
workshops with Neil prior to your ever receiving that information
typically in MAy.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So can he move his up a month,
too?
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I think what you're hearing
from the board is we don't want to get that stuff a day or two before.
It's very hard to get in and do -- COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I don't even want it a week
ahead of time. I want it two weeks minimum. COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Minimum.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: We do have to take into account
the constitutional officers' staff requirement to put that information
together, and I think you could ask -- Mr. Smykowski, have you talked
to them as to how far in advance they could move it up for this coming
year, because we're already sitting here in MArch? If they're
planning on a June 1 ready date, the chances of them accelerating for
four -- you know, four-week period is --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: The sheriff has indicated that that
would be a problem for them, and they would prefer to see it
implemented one year from now.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: So if we were to ask them for
Hay 15th this year and Hay 1st next year, it will put a stress on all
of us, but we're going to be stressed as it is anyway. COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Let's do it anyway.
MR. DORRILL: This is our way to try to respond to your
and the public's desire and --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: What if we move it up a
couple of weeks this year and go to Hay 1st next year? That's going
to put a strain on us, on everybody. However, we'll be better
informed and better able to get through the budget.
MR. DORRILL: As long as you don't try and move your
workshops up earlier in June, because if we can push them back before
the board takes its recess, I think it would be our goal to try and
have them at least, I'd say, ten days in advance of the workshop day.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: That would be a nice --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Over the past few years, the board
workshops have moved up a week at a time as well to further complicate
our ability to provide --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Well, last year we had an oddity
in that July 4th fell on a Tuesday, and it kind of skewed the whole
thing, but it's not going to happen this year.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So let's -- that sounds like a
decent compromise to me, is we would request a date of Hay 15th which
is going to create a difficult situation for everyone, but if it
requires us also moving our date back a little bit instead of forward
to help buy that time, I think that a mix of those two is probably
going to work best.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: With -- with the goal being at
least two weeks to review before the first workshop.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: And if we can set a goal of two
weeks and hit ten weeks, glory be, and we'll move on the next year,
but let's --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Let's stay with two weeks.
MR. DORRILL: That requires the cooperation of
everyone. I will tell you that the statute does not give you the
general ability to say they're due Hay the 15th. COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Right.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Let's say they're due Hay 1st and
just be forgiving --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Let's say Hay 15th, and let's
ask you and your office to communicate clearly with each of -- what
I'm not doing clearly with each of the constitutional officers. I
think sometimes despite our best intention we fail to communicate
clearly. I think right now if it's March 5th and we let them know,
gosh, we're going to need it Hay 15th instead of June 1st and that's
done clearly, yeah, we're all going to have to work a little harder
but hopefully everybody will cooperate.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: And the key is every
constitutional officer. If we don't get all of them -- if we get most
of them, they are going to help us get this information out to the
general public and to this board at an earlier date. So it's not as
if you need any more motivation than that. If we get most of them but
not all of them, that's better than we were doing last year. So that
helps it.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: My only question would be to Mr.
Weigel. Obviously the statute, if it is definitive as to June 1
versus Hay 1, and can we -- is Hay 15th acceptable? I would defer to
the county attorney to make that --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Weigel.
MR. WEIGEL: They're absolutely right, both Neil and
Mike, in regard to the statute. It uses the Hay 1, June 1 dates. But
I suggest that we go with Hay 1st but, in any event, no later than Hay
15th.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Yeah. So we'll adopt the Hay
1st and two-week grace.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I love it, Hay 1st but --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: This year you get a two-week
grace.
MR. DORRILL: That will work.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: The next major policy --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Is that Guy Carlton calling right
now?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Actually the property appraiser and tax
collector are not a part of that resolution. Their budgets are
ultimately approved by the State of Florida, not the board, so they're
not included.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So that was Mary calling.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: The next major area is financial budget
development. Obviously we undertake a three-year review of the ad
valorem tax support funds to determine tax impacts of both the
inflationary cost increases, previous policy decisions related to
revenue, and proposed expanded services. Some of the revenue
assumptions -- turning to page 3, we've updated our forecast in terms
of the ad valorem levies are at ninety-six and a half percent based on
the historical trend has been good that we collect ninety-six and a
half. Previously we utilized 96.
Taxable value attributable to new construction is
estimated at 3 percent. I'm under item B at the top of page 3.
You'll note that historical increases have been kind of all over the
board; last year 4.2, the previous year 2.6, the year prior to that,
FY '94, was 3.4. So we've -- we've taken a 3 percent, and that was
kind of a stab in the dark, but a reasonableness test applies here.
You know, we're -- we'll be somewhere between two and a half and four
probably. But the property appraiser at this point can't do any
better than that as well. We spoke with Mr. Skinner, but he's not
ready to leap off in -- his crystal ball really isn't any better than
ours at this point.
Intergovernmental revenues, obviously we use sales tax
to support road and bridge, debt service, the general fund, revenue
sharing support debt service with the balance going to general fund.
The major policy area and one that impacts a lot on the general fund
this year is gas taxes. Obviously we're in the third year of the
transition of gas taxes from maintenance to construction, and that
just outlines that essentially all gas taxes in FY '97 would be
allocated to road construction but for the components required for
debt service.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I've got a question on those. I
assume, first, that one of the items we're doing is agreeing to these
assumptions?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Correct.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: So I have a little bit of a -- I
understand how you came to the local estimations. And the
intergovernmental, why the seven percent on sales tax, two and a half
on revenue sharing?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's based on historical averages and
what we've received year to date this year. I'll have a revenue
report in a week or two for the first quarter. Sales tax at this
point for the first quarter was actually slightly behind what we
received in the first quarter a year ago. So that is a potential
concern. Obviously, though, February in terms of tourist tax revenues
we had a huge month compared to the prior year.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: So we can hope sales tax --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Right. -- would move in the -- in the
general trend that we've seen in the past, which has been anywhere
from typically 8 to 10 percent annual. We've tempered that a bit.
And -- as well as based on what the budget this year called for based
on the state estimates, which were slightly less than the historical
that we've experienced in that regard.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: The one that I don't exactly know
what it is is state revenue sharing. Is that where our state
legislature can tell us what they're going to give us, or is that a
mathematical formula?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: That's where we curb the bid if
we need to.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: It's not an intangible tax like
cigarette taxes, so it's a --
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: But that isn't '-
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Essentially it's known in the final
month, the final month of the state fiscal year, which is June is
where they kind of correct for -- they give us monthly increments in
equal amounts and then essentially use the June month to correct and
give us the 100 percent balance of what we are ultimately due that
year, so that's kind of the make or break month. Unfortunately, that
also comes -- by the time we actually have -- that figure is known,
we're probably in August, and we've already made our estimate and sent
our tentative millage rate. And, in fact, last year we had to
actually reduce them as part of final hearing.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Forgive me if this is a dumb
question, but I'd rather ask it. But a two and a half percent growth
rate is less than inflation, so we're effectively getting less money
from the state next year than we got this year?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Actually what you received last year --
what we have budgeted this year was actually less than we received a
year ago, because the state had utilized some revenue enhancement
techniques, and they had told us to back down our projections this
year. That -- there's a small margin of growth on an annual basis for
revenue sharing. That is not one where you're going to see a 10
percent growth in a given year. Obviously part of it is tied to the
cigarette tax. Certainly we have anti-smoking sentiment out there.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Smykowski, how much longer is your
presentation, would you guess?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: We've got a long way to go.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Do we? Why don't we take a
five-minute break and come right back.
(A short break was held.)
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We'll reconvene the county commission
meeting. Mr. Smykowski, please continue.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Yes, sir. On pages 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7,
there are a number of policy-related issues such as the indirect cost
allocation plan, enterprise fund payment in lieu of tax. Those are
things we typically do every year.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Smykowski, our pages are not
numbered that way.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Should be in the agenda package.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: You're in attachments three-year
ad valorem budget analysis?
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: No.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Not yet.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: That's why they're numbered
wrong.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: He's at the very beginning of the
packet.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Okay.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Please continue.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: A number of the attachments were just
related to the proposed presentation format. Bottom of page 3,
carryforward indirect cost allocation plan, a number of those items
are related, you know, things we do on an annual basis. We include
them in the policy, that obviously the board would want to continue to
do that. Those are principal revenue sources to the general fund.
Attrition, we would again propose 3 percent for funds with 10 or more
positions.
On the CIP, pages 4 and 5, a couple of changes there
that I'll highlight for you. We're proposing to develop five-year
water and wastewater CIE. Currently they have master plan studies
that are in various stages of review. The wastewater, I believe, is
currently underway. The water will be sent out for study. Upon
completion of that we would propose to develop a five-year plan. We
also want to develop a five-year plan for non-CIE capital projects.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Smykowski, I had talked
yesterday to Mr. Dotrill about this, and you're budgeting 3 percent
attrition. And when we were looking at the -- at the detail of the
manager's pay plan, we -- I noted that there was $300,000 worth of
attrition carryforwards. And on a 13 million dollar general fund
salary budget, that's about 2.3 percent. And I asked the manager
yesterday if he would object or find it too tight if we were to budget
4 percent attrition. And he remarked that he would not find that too
tight, because the attrition has been in addition to what we've
actually budgeted each year. And I was wondering if the board wanted
to consider 4 percent attrition this year instead of 3.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Certainly.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yes.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Obviously the further you get out on
that limb, though, obviously you're -- COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It's only a one-year delay each
time, I know.
COHHISSIONER MAC'KIE: We're on that limb already.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We're on that limb next year.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So it's already started halfway
through.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That 1 percent will equate to
how many dollars?
COHHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Only about $150,000. It's not
much but, you know, if we can pile up enough hundred thousands, we'll
get through it.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And then we'll have real
money.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: It's only 150,000.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I thought I'd never hear that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: A hundred and fifty thousand or --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: On to page 5, CIE policies. We --
squared away with attrition, 1 percent.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: One percent of thirteen million
is a hundred and thirty thousand.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: We're proposing to develop a five-year
plan for non-CIE capital projects, and that's something recommended by
the productivity committee in addition to your capital projects that
are brought forth to the board.
MR. DORRILL: Specifically I saw two commissioners say
what's that.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Yeah, I need an example.
MR. DORRILL: We have a five-year CIE capital
improvement plan for your growth management plan. We have a five-year
road plan. We have a five-year solid waste plan. We have a five-year
parks and library plan. We do not have a five-year plan for non-CIE
capital improvements. For example, the board annually spends money,
it seems like, to -- to refurbish or repair major air conditioning
equipment all over the county. And what Hike is suggesting is that we
should probably have a five-year capital improvement plan for things
that are not part of the growth management plan. They're not
concurrency driven but that are annually incurred, and the board needs
to know what is the schedule to repaint buildings or to do other
non-ClE projects.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: What's the trend and projection
of same trend --
MR. DORRILL: Right.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Another great suggestion from
Hike Smykowski.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: You're talking about on a
resolving basis and maintenance?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Right. It's important there, too,
because on an annual basis we allocate about 7 million dollars
basically as Neil alluded to. Your fund 3101, the majority of that is
in non-CIE-type projects. John Boldt, that long equipment --
long-armed equipment, that was not -- that's a non-CIE. Those would
be examples of things. But next year, for instance, the medical
examiner's facility is not a CIE project. The County Barn maintenance
facility is not a CIE project.
MR. DORRILL: We have a five-year schedule for those as
-- as well as concurrency --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I guess the key issue there is those two
projects alone along with the debt service for the 800 megahertz are
more than the available pot of money that we've typically allocated,
so obviously developing a plan is a good idea, I think, and again
recommended by the productivity committee and a concept that we've
endorsed as well.
That kind of concludes at least the initial broad
policies areas. What I'd like to do now on page 8 --
COHHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: A couple of questions, Mr.
Smykowski, before we go on.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I'll try to be as brief as possible. I
don't want to miss substantive items, though.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Looking on page 6, every two
to three years county solicits quotations from private insurance
providers in order insure that self insurance remains the most cost
effective. The last couple of years I don't recall anything coming to
the board or -- I always suggest if we do bids that our own people
bid, and perhaps we come out the lowest. But while we've got verbal
reports back from Mr. Ochs or someone, I don't remember seeing any
information. And I'm wondering when is the last time we did a formal
bid request for that type of thing.
MR. DORRILL: Group health?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah.
MR. DORRILL: I'll say it was two years ago. So this --
that would be the year in which we would cycle through and, again,
take sealed bids and proposals on group health insurance.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And we may very well be the
lowest but, again, the cost on that item is so great that --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: In that area health insurance would be
done this summer, and work comp. and property casualty would be done
next summer essentially would be the schedule.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Question. I notice over on
page 8 when we talk about inflationary costs of existing services,
2.259 million. I'm wondering, is this assumed or verified? I'm --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Assumed.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That's assumed?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Okay. To the next stage of the report
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: One of the problems I have as
we get into that is we talk about the theoretic zero-based budgeting
or the sister to that with our priority-based budgeting. But rather
than actually starting at, okay, what do we need additionally is last
year anyway it was okay, you can assume a 3 percent increase over last
year. And I'm just wondering rather than assuming that paper clips
cost 3 percent more than last year, shouldn't we make that a realistic
thing before we give each individual area 3 percent leeway there.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: This does not in any way guarantee any
given department a 3 percent increase, in re: an assumption for
planning purposes.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I know that, but a written
memorandum went out to the department heads last year, and I'll dig
that out between now and when we do budget if you like. But a written
memorandum went out that said use an assumption of three percent or
three and a half percent or whatever the number was, but it said use
an assumption of three percent inflation when putting -- when putting
together their individual budgets. In my mind that is giving them
leeway to automatically build in an extra 3 percent, and I don't want
that up front. If paper clips cost an extra penny this year, great,
budget for that. But don't immediately assume you have X percent more
and -- and there was a written memorandum that went out to that last
year, and I think we need -- as part of our policy, we need to say
we're keeping it even.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Or less.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah, or less, unless you can
justify item by item because that was not done last year.
MR. DORRILL: I don't -- I don't have a problem with
that.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Never mind.
MR. DORRILL: But what you may see then are some
specific detailed information. The cost of fuel has gone up so many
cents per gallon, you know, after our tax exempt status, and you may
see some rationale like that in the budget detail, but I'm not opposed
to that.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That's fine.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: It's not that I need that. We
need to know that level of examination has taken place. In addition,
I was going to ask when we assumed 3 percent, did we ever go back and
do that level of detail to see if, in fact, there was a savings before
the budget was finally approved or once it was approved for that 3
percent it was just inserted and cost was cost and things fell out
from there. I'm -- you know.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Well, one of the things that I
think would help answer that question and is something I'm hoping to
see in this process is some actual versus budget comparisons that are
rather specific. You know, I'd like to see actual -- instead of
skipping a year, I'd like to see if we can only have a quarter of this
year. I don't know how the statements are done. But if we could only
have a quarter of the most current year to compare with budget -- to
compare budget with actual.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: But you need that on a seasonal
basis, Commissioner Hac'Kie, because it doesn't mean anything if -- if
you have a quarter. You know, you need to know if the seasonality of
that quarter is a high quarter or a low quarter. You can't just pump
out numbers.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I agree we'd have to understand
that. But I'd rather have that information than no information about
the preceding fiscal year.
MR. DORRILL: We -- we -- we will have or we can have --
again, I don't want to have to do it for every department and every
fund, but if the board were to ask and say why is the parks and rec
budget going up 23 percent, then we would ask you to turn to the parks
and rec department, and we can share with you not only what
year-to-date expenses have been but also what the 12-month forecast
expense will be. And if you want to scrutinize the parks and rec
department, we have the ability to look at that level of detail.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I think a real useful way to
spend my time would be comparisons of actuals and budgets.
MR. DORRILL: Commissioner Matthews' observation is
good, though. You need to pick and choose the departments. The EHS
department spends the majority of their money the first two quarters
of the year. The parks and rec department spends their money the last
two quarters of the year during summer rec in the summer programs that
we have. And so you need to ask specific questions, and we can give
you specific information.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Okay.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: And in certain cases actuals are not --
would not provide an apples to apples. A few years ago we built the
Golden Gate community pool. Obviously the following year you have the
huge operating costs that go along with operating that facility. The
year --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And I don't mean to -- to be
quipping about this, but -- but we're smart enough that you can
explain to us that that was the year that we built the Fool. You
know, we can figure -- you can tell us that, and we'll get it.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Bit of a leap, isn't it.
MR. DORRILL: But I ask those kind of questions all the
time. And I rely on the individual analysts. Different analyst have
different departmental responsibilities that they are experts in or
for. And when I look at their budgets in early May, they already go
ahead and factor out one-time hits to a department so that they don't
get the artificial credit of that in next year. We're not going to
build a new Fool every year in parks and rec. So they factor on that
the amount of the percentage increases over the prior year.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: But if the response that I'm
getting from this is that I need to make specific requests, then let's
you and I talk about it at our next one-on-one so that I can quantify
-- make some real specific requests. I don't want it to fall by the
wayside.
MR. DORRILL: And what I'm suggesting is that you have a
great opportunity to do that this year because of this balance sheet
approach that we're using where you're going to say, holy cow, the
general fund is up 10 percent. Whose fault is that? You're going to
look down the balance sheet, and it may say public services division
up 23 percent. And so then you're going to want to hone in on the
public services division and then ask for the departmental details.
Let's see the library budget. Let's see the parks and rec budget.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: You know we're never going to
learn this budget if we can read it. You know that. Those budgets
win no awards.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: The ones you can read.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: One other policy question,
and perhaps you were going to get to this later, but last year
Commissioner Matthews had introduced the different levels of service
in our option, kind of a menu-driven thing from different
departments. Public services did some of that within some of those
departments. But this year it was supposed to be the phase-in year
for several departments. And do we have any idea which areas we can
expect to see that in?
MR. DORRILL: We're -- we're carrying through in the
three areas for gain sharing that we're in the pilot project. And I
-- I think we picked facility management, parks and recreation -- or,
excuse me, the library. And there's --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Water.
MR. DORRILL: And water.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: This was different than the gain
sharing. It was performance budgeting.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Remember last year when we
talked about ball fields. You can mow three times a week; you can mow
seven days a week. It was pick and choose, and you knew there was an
expense with each one. And we had our discussion a year ago that we
would phase that type of thing into several departments so that we
knew -- we could Frioritize within the budget. And if we found we
needed a cut, we'd only mow five days a week. The only department we
did that with last year was parks and recreation. We were told there
would be an additional two to three departments this year and that we
could phase that in. I'm wondering which departments those are going
to be.
MR. DORRILL: I don't think I've anticipated that. If
that was your desire, I may have misapplied that to the gains sharing
thing that we've done on the departments.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: The gains sharing is separate.
MR. DORRILL: I'm not opposed to doing that, but I think
what I would like to do is wait until you see the fund balances, and
then you tell me which departments seem to be exceptionally high and
you want some options for and the detail.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Well, if you can do that,
that's fine. But I don't want to end up waiting another year and be
told in June, well, gee, we'll do that next year because that's what
we were told last year.
MR. DORRILL: I'm not opposed to --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We were told there would be
two or three specific departments over and above parks and rec that
that would happen this year.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Because how would we know -- I
mean, we know when there are lots of zeros, but we don't know if
something is high for that department.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We would by -- we don't need to
do that; you can. When you go down that list and see where the big
increases are --
MR. DORRILL: I think they're going to jump off the
page, you know, this year. And I think then if you want me to, I can
__
MR. SHYKOWSKI: The goal of the revised format is to get
away from that and to focus your attention on an exception reporting
basis. We are not proposing a comprehensive program-by-program
review. We are, in essence, utilizing your role as a board of
directors to focus your attention on the major policy areas. Give us
that policy direction up front, and the manager will -- and his staff
will bring back a budget that -- you know, if you said reduce services
a million dollars on a programmatic basis, Mr. Dotrill would bring
back a budget that said this is what we had to do. We eliminated this
program in this division --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That's fine. Let's not waste
a lot of time talking about this. Let's just say our policy is to cut
the budget by 2 percent this year, and you go do it. COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Second.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I mean, one of the directive
-- last year -- you're apparently not following. If all you want is
a general policy from us, cut each department by 2 percent and bring
it back to us.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I think I understand a little bit
of where Mr. Smykowski is coming from. They've tried to make strides
in the way the budget has been presented. In making that presentation
in a certain format, it on the front end seems to me to almost exclude
what we asked for last year. Because so in trying to solve one
request and problem, we didn't solve the other one.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Didn't address the other one.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Didn't address the other one. So
rather than -- than scrapping it --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Oh, no.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: No, I like the format.
MR. DORRILL: The context of what I thought we were
trying to do last year -- I'm not opposed to showing you detail where
-- where you either want to see it from my perspective or where you
have a problem with a particular department, is to go back and still
show you programmatically how we spend your money. That's the example
you used about how many times are we going to mow athletic fields.
That was a program maintenance cost of parks and recreation.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I think we were looking at that,
though, last year not so much in a program format but in a level of
service format in that if -- if we were spending X numbers of dollars
for maintenance of our parks, and we're trying to find a way to save a
couple hundred thousand dollars, we needed to know, and we found out
that, gees, we were mowing our parks five times last year, and we
felt, gee, let's try three times, and if we have -- are at the level
of service citizens are willing to pay for then, fine, we'll mow them
three times instead of five times, because there's no point in doing
it to excess and asking people to pay for it. That's -- that's what
that was about last year was level of service.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And I'm not suggesting that
you scrap what you've put forward, but it bothers me a great deal that
on purpose or not you have ignored the board direction as to what we
do with the budget this year.
MR. DORRILL: Well, I can assure you that I didn't do it
on purpose. I think what all of you told me last year was that you
thought program priority budgeting was a waste of time because it ends
up being redundant. You go through, and you set the classifications,
whether essential/mandatory, to an individual. All of you told me you
didn't want to do that this year, it's a waste of time, because you
end up having two series of budget workshops, only the second of which
is where you actually see the real money, if you will. COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That's true.
MR. DORRILL: And so this year in order -- because, you
know, we're responding to different commissioners and different
requests. The other concern that you had was that the budget is
overcomplicated in terms of the board's ability to grasp an entire
fund picture. And so that's why we have tried to make your initial
review fund balance approach as opposed to priority program setting
approach and then provide what Mike is saying is the -- the additional
detail only where you want to choose that. If in advance what you
want me to do is to -- is to bring back examples of like we did in
parks and rec last year, we can do that, but I think we only ought to
do it in departments that seem to have extraordinarily high increase
or extraordinarily high expense costs.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: One of the things that
concerns me right now is we keep talking about increase, increase,
instead of focusing on the bottom line. Obviously we need to look at
the individual parts in order to get to that bottom line. But
everything we've said is what about this increase, what about that
increase, what if this is an unusual increase. And I -- I mean, I
said it off the cuff a moment ago, but if we want to set an overall
policy, why do we need to be focusing on what the increase is going to
be instead of no increases?
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Well, I would like to pursue in
the areas that we can and in those areas that make sense, because not
all areas make sense, but to pursue that performance level of -- of
what is the service level that our citizens are willing to pay for and
in -- in an effort to -- to avoid a budget increase this year or a
millage increase this year that we look at levels of service. And if
we're performing at an excessive level, we don't know that when it's
just numbers given to us. We don't know --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: The concern is -- you used
Mr. Olliff's division and said, well, if you -- was it 23 percent
increase we'd red flag that, and we could go through and look at
those? Well, just because someone isn't asking for anything more than
a 1 percent increase this year doesn't mean there still may not be
items within that that could be thinned out. And so I think the
assumption is that we're looking only at those areas that are asking
for a big increase is a poor assumption. I think all those areas need
to be looked at, because there may be so much fluff in there that they
don't ask for any increase, and it appears great because it says zero,
but you could have a decrease.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Again, the level of service that
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Correct. Hiss -- Hiss Filson
-- Hiss Filson, would you do me a favor and get me the minutes from
last year from all our budget discussions because we were very clear
on at least two occasions what we wanted policy to be this year.
if you will give me that, I'll be happy to pass it on to the county
manager.
MR. DORRILL: I guess you all need to be a little more
specific then because --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Can't have both?
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Sure we can have both.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: What we're talking about -- and
what you're bringing up I don't think anyone disagrees with but is, in
essence, a policy decision we didn't make before today. We didn't
tell Mr. Dorrill bring this budget back at a 2 percent decrease.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: No, no.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And I don't disagree with
that. What we did give for a policy before today was to bring back
the performance issues Commissioner Matthews was mentioning in three
or four departments. We did it partially in one department last year,
and we were assured by you that you would bring that back in multiple
departments this year. And you haven't done that, and you're telling
us that you didn't intend to do that. And that is a change from the
policy that the five of us set last year when we went through this
process. That's why I'm asking for the minutes, because I know you
said it as well as we did.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: Then let's make that direction
today. I mean, we can get the minutes and so forth, but let's set a
minimum number of departments to be brought back under the same level
of service standard that parks and rec was subject to last year. It
doesn't change the budget format we have in front of us, but set
specifically today whether we say three, four, or five departments as
a part of this budget cycle, we want those where the county manager
feels he has the greatest ability to establish level of service within
those departments to bring them back in that format.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And we'll do that in addition
to the layout --
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: In addition to the layout here.
And that is specific enough direction for you to go out and target
those areas and bring them back in the format parks and rec --
MR. DORRILL: Yeah. I guess maybe we're all saying the
same thing. I just don't know we're on the same wavelength. I
understood that your desire to do that comprehensively by setting the
program priorities was something that none of you intended to do this
year.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Correct.
MR. DORRILL: We still budget by program category. And
if you want me in advance to show you categories where I think that
there are -- are cost options and savings --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Which is what you did in
parks and rec last year and what we were told would be done this year.
That's exactly what we're asking you to do.
MR. DORRILL: I'd be happy to review the minutes --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Let's set that, if we will,
today. In addition to parks and rec coming back in the same format --
Tom is starting to sweat as we speak -- let's add four additional
departments at the county manager's choosing in areas in which he
feels are appropriate to identify levels of service for review.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Well, he has three additional
ones in the ones that were selected last fall for gain sharing.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. Then they would be easy to
put together because those performance measures are already laid out.
So let's add one to those three. Is that sufficient direction?
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That's great.
MR. DORRILL: I don't have a problem with that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Let me jump in here for a minute now.
The discussions, as I understood them this morning, are really not
addressing the concerns that I've had all along in the budgeting
process, and that is the board never gets to see particularly deep
inside our different departments and divisions and operations to know
if what we're doing is, numb -- number one, something that we should
be doing, something that's necessary or even desired by the public. I
don't think we've made that assessment. The other thing is we don't
know by looking at the budget whether what we are doing, even if -- if
it turns out to be something that we want to do, we don't know that
that's being done in the most cost-effective manner. We never get to
see that. And so, you know, that -- this has been my concern in the
budgeting process all along, and I don't see anything in this new
budget process that's going to show me that kind of information.
While I think the changes that -- in the presentation that we're going
to make in the budget's fine, and I -- I -- I'm looking forward to
going through the budget process this year, it's still not answering
my basic questions as to why are we doing X and are we doing Y on a
cost-effective basis. We don't know that.
MR. DORRILL: Well, I think we do tell you X because
that's why I said we budget programatically. We don't budget in
aggregate. So I think we do tell you what it is that you get for your
-- for your money. You don't see all the detail, and I will tell you
that if you want to see and get involved in a -- in a line-item detail
review for every budget, I don't think any of us here have any idea of
the amount of time that's going to take. Because then you're going to
sit there and say, well, why is the overtime budget -- and, you know,
why is the overtime line item in the road and bridge budget $175,000.
And I'm trying to steer the board completely away from that. That's
why I said I'm trying to balance what I thought was your desire to
look at a balance-sheet approach to fund summaries as opposed to
wondering why George Archibald needs $175,000 worth of overtime in the
road and bridge budget.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I agree with that. I'm not sure that
the budget process itself is the time to get into what I'm
suggesting. But at some point I need to be convinced that we're doing
what we're supposed to be doing or we should do and we're doing it in
a cost-effective manner. And I don't believe that this information
satisfies my concerns during the budgeting process.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Chairman.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Yes.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We have a productivity committee
that I think that would be an excellent thing for them to be looking
at, the numbers behind the budget and on various departments and
report to us, report to us whether they agree as citizens that the
budget that we have for the various departments, activities and so
forth, is the most efficient, effective manner in which to -- to do
that.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That was one of their proposed topical
areas over the past years, services efforts and accomplishments.
Unfortunately, that never got off the ground, and they are not
pursuing that at this time.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Maybe we need -- maybe we need
to ask them to prioritize that at number one. CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hancock.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Commissioner Norris, I -- I --
maybe I'm misunderstanding. I'm hearing two completely separate
directions here. Mr. Dotrill has brought a budget back that puts us
in a board position, a board of setting policy, a board looking at
departments saying bring this department back at X percentage or bring
this department down to point Y, then it's his job to go do that.
One of the main problems I had last year in the budget
process was not knowing -- when animal control came forward, I had no
idea what they did on a daily basis, and that level of detail you're
talking about is never going to be presented in a sufficient format to
have that understanding. I -- I do a workday once a month, and it's
not much, but it gets me out to several departments, and I start to
see a little more of what they do on a daily basis, and it helps put
the pieces together.
But we just had a discussion about not wanting to micro
manage a pay salary or salary adjustment. That's the county manager's
job. As Commissioner Constantine said earlier, it's our job to set
the policy. If it's 2 percent reduction or a 10 percent in this
department and 5 percent over there, we set that policy, and he makes
it happen. So, you know, I don't think we're ever going to have the
understanding of what every department does for the same reason that
the CEO of Chrysler doesn't know what happens on line 13 on a daily
basis. It's just impossible to be able to grasp that amount of
information and be able to make those -- that level of decisions.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: What does happen on line 137
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I'm not sure. I haven't worked
for Chrysler yet. But so that is his job, and that's why we pay him
the salary he gets paid. So rather than -- than taking this in that
direction, I prefer the direction that's in front of us that is a
macro view, that if we see an area that -- if we simply can't afford a
budget that is presented to us, we identify the areas that need to be
reduced, the amount of reduction, and it's staff's job to make that
reduction happen. That's the direction I'd like to see it take, and I
guess I'm a little concerned about going the other way.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. Well, here's the point,
though. Let's say we have department A and department B. They both
show 25 percent increase.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Right.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, we can say as policy makers
we'll put them back to 2 percent increase, and you figure out the way
to do it. But my point is that we may not even need department A, and
we may want to increase department B even more than the 25 percent.
But we are never presented with information that will satisfy me that
-- that we have that level of decision making --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I've got to agree there.
While I concur, we don't want to get into a micro-managing situation.
And as I said before, something may show as a zero percent increase
this year, but it may be so full of fluff of things we don't need that
it should in these five people's opinion show a decrease instead of a
zero percent increase.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: If only we knew.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah. So I think --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Part of our role
unfortunately is to set priorities as to what our expenditures will
be. And some departments just by their nature are going to need an
increase, but some don't. And I -- I -- while I concur with the
concept of us giving a general policy and you trying to meet that,
when it comes to what cuts will be made, the five of us are going to
be ultimately responsible, because if we cut library service, it's
going to be your phone and my phone ringing saying, gosh, what's
happening here. And so we need to prioritize those. We need to set a
general policy for you to try to meet, and then if you have difficulty
doing that as we get down to the tough decisions, this board needs to
participate, and I think that's kind of a hybrid of what you were
describing.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: I agree with you. I'm just
trying to figure out how to dovetail it into this process, and I guess
my point I'm having the greatest difficulty --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We'll meet every day in
June.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay, Mr. Smykowski.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Essentially over the past three years we
have met in exhaustive workshops and reviewed program by program of
everything each department does. And essentially those programs, for
the most part, have not changed substantially from year to year. The
service we are essentially providing is not going to vary 180 degrees
next year within that same department.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I guess the irony is when we
had our definitions of what discretionary, essential, and mandatory
were, discretionary under our own definition was always those items
that in a year of difficulty or difficult financial situation would be
the first to go. And I find it ironic that in the first year where
we're really going to struggle apparently that we're going to throw
that process out because I think --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Based in part on your direction that
that was a waste of time.
MR. DORRILL: Yeah. I think specifically the example
that we always love to use and the one that we love to pick on is why
does the Board of County Commissioners still spend $75,000 a year in
support of the 4-H program in Collier County. And we sort of talk
about it every year, and I know Mr. Constantine is always on his list
of budget cuts --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Not as a cut, though.
MR. DORRILL: -- and every year we go through 200
different program priorities. And in the three years we've done the
program priorities, the county commission has not eliminated one of
them that I can recall. And so that's why you all said last year we
don't want to do this anymore. We're going to continue to budget
programmatically, but we don't want to go through two series of
workshops.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: One thing I might suggest,
and this is off that a little bit, but I do submit my list of things I
think we should cut each year. And particularly this year where it's
going to be so tight, perhaps all five of us should create little
lists and bring them in one day, and I guarantee there will be some
things on there that match. And if we have three or four or five of
us that match, we can probably scratch that off early in the process,
and there are going to be some items that we don't have three people
and those we can get into a discussion. But that might be a fair
place to start as we get into June is if there are items up front that
a majority of us agree can be cut, then let's not waste a lot of time
on those.
MR. DORRILL: I say we ought to do that before we ever
have the first workshop, because there's no sense in us preparing the
line-item budgets for a program package that you intend to approve.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Well, not being on the inside,
last year I couldn't have done it, but this year I think that I could
do that and -- and --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I just think it would be very
productive for all five of us to do a little list.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We still have the same problem,
specifically what we're doing, but I guess that would spur the
discussion --
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Right, we can be persuaded if
we're wrong. I can.
MR. DORRILL: My recommendation for you would be for us
to take our current set of essential and discretionary program
packages -- and I bet there's 120 or 150 of them -- and give them to
the board by department, show them by department, and before we ever
go to the first workshop, that we have a special, you know, session at
the end of a regular meeting some day and see if you all can't -- you
know, if you say, well, we're only going to fund the first 95 of them,
Mr. Dotrill, we want you to take the last, you know, 25 of them and
don't put them in your line-item budget this year. I'm not opposed to
that kind of direction at all. What I'm saying, though, is
historically the board has not been willing to do that.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Anybody on the board not
willing to do that?
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Can I suggest that when that
list is put together we get a description of what that program is
designed to accomplish and not attach any FTEs or dollars to it,
because if we're talking about program, we're talking about the goal
the program is designed to do, not the dollars -- dollars associated
to it. If we don't like the program, if we don't like what it's
supposed to do, the dollars shouldn't matter. COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Good point.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So -- so are you saying we don't
want to see how much the dollars are?
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: You shouldn't let the dollars
guide you.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I can close one eye when I look
at the list. I'd like to know.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We can see about -- the
point's well-made. Either a program is worthwhile or it's not,
whether it's 13,000 or 130,000.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: If it's a good one, then we keep
it. If it's not, it goes.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We should give ourselves a dollar
goal.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: That's easy enough to accomplish. Mr.
Smykowski, please continue.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Okay. We're on page 8, which is the
three-year analysis of the ad valorem tax supported funds. And this
will kind of give you an idea of the magnitude of the problem we're
facing in the general fund. You'll note a third of the way down the
page a list, general fund summary FY '97, and it identifies a few
major factors that impact on what would be the proposed millage rate
in FY '97, and they are the bullet-point items. Each of those are
followed by -- there's charts and graphs and a narrative describing
the impact of each, but just in a nutshell, one is the increase in the
subsidy to the road and bridge department based on the third year of
the transition of gas taxes.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I have a question about that,
because it was Commissioner Norris and I who -- who asked to have this
done, if you remember correctly, Commissioner Norris. And I thought
the idea was to transfer 1.8 million dollars per year so that we kind
of wean ourselves through this process. And -- and in 1997 we're
looking at 3.4. I just have a question as to why that's not 1.8.
Supposedly we'd already moved 3.6.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: It was done in increments of one-third
over a three-year period, but road and bridge last year did not need
the full 1.8 million dollars because they had a large carryforward
balance in that fund. So road and bridge did not need the full
magnitude. That's, in essence, how we avoided in part a regular tax
increase last year. But this is the third year of a three-year
transition, one-third year one, two-thirds year two, one hundred
percent year three. This is now year three.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: But this 100 percent is more
than one-half of what it was we asked to be moved over a year -- three
years ago, and I guess that's my point. I mean, if -- if -- if
through budget, whatever it is, magic, you perform, and God bless you
for doing it but, you know, I had expected to see 1.8 million move
each year for three years or roughly that number, and here we are in
the third year and it's 3.4, which is more than half of the original
MR. SMYKOWSKI: That is not -- that's the additional
subsidy that fund requires now to make it whole based on its
expenditure level.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: How much of that are the gas
taxes that we're talking about? That's -- I believe that's
Commissioner Matthews' question, is she expected to see 1.8 as an
isolated amount for gas tax funds being transferred. She says 3.4.
She needs an explanation of that 3.4.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Exactly.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Between the two of us we
communicate very well.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: And what you're saying is that
last year you didn't transfer all the money because they had a
carryforward, and last year we were able to reduce the millage some
minor amount, but perhaps we should have moved that money last year
where we wouldn't be looking at 3.4 this year. We'd only be looking
at 1.8.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Let me just flag that as a point
that needs to be answered.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It still needs to be moved. I
just need an answer as to why.
MR. DORRILL: We'll do that.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: I know we're all getting hungry,
but I think this is one of the most meaningful discussions. This is
so productive.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: Is Louis Meck (phonetic) in the
room?
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Oh, yeah.
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: He'll be back in April.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: The next major item impacted on general
funds of approximately a million dollars is sales tax required for
debt service. We had a two-year savings window due to refunding the
sales tax bonds. And obviously then that -- that freed up more sales
tax to be available for use in the general fund. That two-year
savings is gone. The debt service increases substantially,
approximately a million dollars. As a result obviously that leaves a
million dollars less in available sales tax revenue in the general
fund.
Third major bullet point item is the increase in the
subsidy to EMS at -- on the top of page 10. It shows how the fee
revenue has been allocated between fees versus general fund subsidy
over time. In FY '95 the board made the policy decision to change the
-- change the funding and accept the maximum allowed by Medicaid,
which in terms of ad valorem subsidy increased the general fund's
support by approximately a million dollars. And there was also some
expanded services in there.
I think the top of page 10 of the chart is enlightening
in terms of just where we're at in terms of fee revenue versus general
fund subsidies. The 1997 fee revenue was estimated at approximately
2.5 million, whereas general fund support is 4.1 million dollars.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Can I ask a question, because I
-- I'm noting the million-dollar increase. And I don't want to delay
this any longer than I have to, but when we refund a bond and we save
-- I don't know -- a couple of weeks ago we saved 125,000, and a few
weeks before that we saved 300,000 refunding a bond. And we don't
ever when we do that designate what to do with that money. It just --
apparently it just goes into the general fund and is in the morass of
the general fund.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: The bond reserve fund?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: No, typically we reduce future years'
debt service.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: With the money saved?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: With the actual dollars saved?
Well, here it appears, from what you said, that we were using that
money to meet our obligation on bonds to be refunded through sales
tax. And now because we don't have that anymore, we're looking at a
million dollars in '97. Am I misunderstanding what -- what you said,
or did you not say that?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: I believe so. The -- that money was --
the debt service payments were a function of restructuring of that
debt. And obviously as a function of that payments increased in FY
'97 debt by a million dollars.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay. So in the restructuring
of the bond, we have lowered annual payments that increases as we get
out there a little bit. Is that -- is that what you're saying?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Now, the next major impact is the
decrease in available carryforward revenue. We've had a large fund
balance in the past due to additional turnbacks from the
constitutional officers in part. Obviously as fund balance has been
decreasing over the last few years, based on the estimate, the
forecast estimate, there would be about 2 million dollars less
available in fund balance available for use in the general fund. And
obviously as that decreases as a percentage of general fund
appropriations, it will become more difficult to meet cash flow during
the first few months of the fiscal year.
Obviously in a ad valorem tax supported fund, we don't
get distributions from the tax collector until typically until mid
November, so we have to have cash available on hand. I'm just
alerting the board at this point. The purpose here was to determine
whether or not we have adequate cash, and it will be very tight, and
we will be prepared to borrow against pool cash, if need be, to meet
the operating needs in the general fund.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Mr. Smykowski -- and this may be
related -- I've had discussions with the clerk's office, initially
with Kathy Hankins and now with Jim Mitchell over there, that we have
a reserve set up, and there is a state-recommended percentage of your
overall budget that should be set aside in reserves. They give a
range between X and Y percentage; you should have reserves in that
area. In the past our reserves have exceeded the upper end of that
range. Obviously we're collecting funds, setting them aside in a
certain area, and they're not -- they're accumulating, okay. My -- my
question is when we sharpen the axe and do everything we can and still
come up short, I need to know of the acceptable range in those
reserves, in those tax dollars already paid in, how much of that would
be available and still be in a safe range to avoid a tax increase this
year. I know you don't have the answer now, but that's going to be
important. That's certainly not a first step. It's a last step. But
there's a reasonable percentage range as set forward by the state.
And to avoid accumulation of reserves in excess of what the state
recommends, I would like to have those numbers available as a last
resort if need be.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Because obviously that, again, is
another one-time salvation. Once you reduce debt reserve, your
carryforward a year out will be reduced by a like amount.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Agreed. But if you look at the
budget, we are in the valley.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: I understand.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: At the pit.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: We're at the bottom and the
projections of the next two years bringing reserves up some. So it's
not a situation of watching a decline and creating a stop point to
hold steady that year and then a continual decline after that. Your
projections show this as the toughest year of the -- go back two years
-- of a five-year window. So if that is true, then if we are to --
if we are accumulating reserves in excess of a recommended percentage
and, again, I need clarification on that, if we are doing that, then I
would rather use that, use the excess above the recommended
percentage, to avoid a tax increase if we can see the next few years
coming out. That's all I'm saying. And I'm not looking for an answer
today. I just want to know if that is the case --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I'd like to sit down with Hiss Hankins
and make sure --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Jim Hitchell is the one that I've
been discussing this with at this point in time. So he may not have
anything solid at this point, but there have been some discussions
that I want to make you aware of.
MR. DORRILL: I think, again, the time to have a
detailed discussion of that would be the board's review of the fund
summary for the general fund, because you're going to -- you know,
your number one revenue every year is the beginning balance.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Right.
MR. DORRILL: And then I think you need to compare that
against on the expense side what you're budgeting as a reserve, and
you need to cut it as close as you can. I think the question should
be from Hike's analysis how close do you want to cut it to the extent
that do you want to have to borrow money at the beginning of the year
before your property taxes come in. The school board's done that for
a number of years. We've never had to do that. And, frankly, I'm not
going to sit here and recommend that we borrow money to start the
year.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I'm not advocating that by any
means.
MR. DORRILL: Well, that's the type of analysis. He can
show you how close he thinks you can reduce -- your carryforward is a
beginning fund revenue on October the 1st knowing that Guy won't send
us the first general fund tax check until the end of November, and I
think that's --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Actually they're going to be very close,
and we may even -- depending on where budgets come in, we may need to
do that next year. We may need to borrow short term. We have like a
one- or two-week window in November and in December when -- you know,
the constitutional officers are entitled to their monthly draws on the
first of the month. That creates a little problem, because our tax
distributions are typically November 15th, December 8th. So for a
one-week period during each of those months we kind of have a case
where --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Is there any opportunity to ask
Mr. Carlton to accelerate that payment a week or so?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yes. And from a revenue standpoint
obviously we try to -- there's an indirect service charge. The
utilities have the payment in lieu of taxes. And to the extent cash
allows in those funds, we could bring that into the general fund
early. But even with those measures it's still going to be very
tight.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It's going to be tight.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yes.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I hear you.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: The next item, the sheriff's pay plan
adjustments, by virtue of the fact that the sheriff is funded from the
general fund and the unincorporated general fund he had, approximately
2 million dollars of his pay plan adjustment would impact the general
fund, and the phase-in costs next year are for positions he added to
his staff this year. Annualizing those next year would be another
300,000.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Just going back to our
comments under our own budget, I hope we'll do the same with the
sheriff and all the constitutional officers, and that is set a
proposed policy, and we'll look at some of the details, but let him
set his own priorities within that policy. And if that policy is --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Within the amount of money we
make available.
MR. DORRILL: If I can just for a second -- if you'll
turn over to page 13, you'll see the reason why that is important. If
you look in the projected column -- or let's look at what you have
actually approved this year in the first column. General fund in
total is about a hundred million dollars. Your ability to control
individual expenses within that is me, and we're 23 million of a
hundred million dollar budget. Now, the next biggest category are
transfers. And that's typically capital improvement projects. And
obviously we have the ability to, you know, set priorities in capital
improvement projects. But even combined, if all of the capital
improvements are us, you're --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: The BCC controls 40 percent of
the overall --
MR. DORRILL: -- general fund. And unless you apply
some appropriation criteria at the very beginning to the
constitutional officers, which is Mr. Constantine's, you can beat
yourself to death if you don't have much to show for it in the final
analysis if you don't send him some similar direction.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So at what point -- when are we
going to be making those kinds of decisions, at the same time we're
having the conversation about program cutting perhaps?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Good question. When does that
discussion between the constitutional officers -- when does that
direction from us occur? Obviously we don't have the information to
do it today is what we're saying.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Right. Well, hows about at the
same time as we put under our program -- we say, Mr. Dotrill, here's
really what yours costs, by the way, constitutionally.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, let me comment on that. If
you're expecting them to give you their budget by Hay 1st, and you're
also going to try to impose restrictions on how much they can budget,
I think you ought to do that right now.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I think we can do those
today. I think what we're doing is setting a general policy, not how
it's going to be achieved. If we say we're looking for a 1 percent
decrease and we're going to do that and we expect everybody else to do
that, then we have the ability to do that today. And then that gives
them ample opportunity. Not only do we communicate we need their
information by Hay 1st, then we communicate we want that information
__
MR. SHYKOWSKI: We have just a few more items here in
terms of items impacting the general fund. Then we can kind of turn
to --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Okay.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: -- what the magnitude of the problem is
and how we plan on addressing it. So I would say -- agree that today
is the appropriate time.
The -- under expanded services the county manager at
508,500, that's 250,000 each for Lake Avalon operations, the South
Naples Community Park, and the eighty-five hundred dollars for a Marco
Island branch library expansion, just additional operating. The
sheriff had proposed 38 new deputies and 1 bailiff, slightly over 2.8
million dollars. Now, obviously that is not a formal budget request.
That was based on a manpower analysis that the sheriff performs
annually.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Just a comment on that. And
while obviously we support having more patrol deputies, and maybe
they've filled some of them to this point, but two years ago we
budgeted 12 positions, and at the end of that fiscal year none of
those positions had been filled yet the money was allocated. Last
year we budgeted 28 more patrol positions, and as of a month and a
half or so ago none of those had been filled. So there were 40
positions at the turn of the year that were still vacant, and I'm
hesitant to budget for an additional 38 when we haven't had the
opportunity to fill the others. And while we certainly should have
the additional deputies, let's fill the vacancies first before we
budget more vacancies.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I couldn't agree more, because
we keep hearing that we need more deputies on patrol for various
reasons, road patrol or investigations and so forth. And -- and we've
continued for two straight years to add people to it, yet the
positions aren't being filled. And because they're not being filled,
we don't know what the effect is of what we have done. And I think we
need to get those positions filled so we can measure what the effect
is before we start adding more.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Mr. Smykowski, looking on page 15
under dollar increase for total expenses, to the general fund we have
a projected 14,080,000 in increased spending in the general fund; is
that correct?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yes. That was inclusive of 38 deputies
and Lake Avalon operations, a three and a half percent cost of living
adjustment applied --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: In other words, this is somewhat
of an inclusive number? We're not --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's a worst-case scenario.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. Understanding that, what
is our projected increase in revenues compared to increase in
expenditures? What's the split there based on we assume what; a 3
percent rate of growth? Here's what I'm getting at. If we're going
to set targets for constitutional officers, we need to link them to
what our financial pictures look to be rather than being arbitrary,
and I'll use it for lack of a better term, rather than just taking a
percentage out of the area. There's no sense requiring a cut of two
times what is necessary if it's going to adversely affect level of
service unless -- unless, again, it's necessary. So before we start
talking about setting that level, I need to know of that 14 million
what are our projected revenues to the general fund based on the
information you have. So what's our difference here? What are we
really talking about in difference?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I think we'll get there shortly.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Next page.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: We are to that point.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: You didn't think we were going to
pay this much attention, did you, Mr. Smykowski?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Actually I'm happy you are.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I know you are.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Carryforward, I guess right before we
get to -- page 12 also shows the capital millage history. At one
point -- in 1986 we started the capital -- the countywide levy for
capital outlay. In '88 that was increased to one mill. And at that
point it generated eight and a half million. It remained at one mill
in FY '91 and due to the corporate tax base generated 12.8 million
dollars at that point. However, beginning in FY '92 on page 12
there's a chart that shows -- both a chart and a bar graph that
identify how that has been reduced over time.
Currently we spend seven -- a little over seven million
dollars a year on capital projects. Obviously the board has allowed
to as part of its policy-making role to say reduce that to 5 million
if they are so inclined. At the top of page 12 there's a chart that
shows the allocation of FY '96 dollars. There was approximately 4.6
million for capital projects. Interim debt service was about 2.4
million. That was for the 800 megahertz system as well as the campus
parking lot project. The campus parking lot project is now paid off
with the payment this year. So you'll note on the FY '97 dollars debt
service is a million three fifty. That's for the 800 megahertz
system. The board obviously would have the option of then utilizing
that million dollars to increase the amount available for non-CIE
capital projects to -- to approximately 5.7 million dollars. The
grand total is still 7 million. Conversely, the board obviously could
opt -- as part of its budget savings, you know, and to avoid a tax
increase or to mitigate the impact or the extent of a tax increase,
the board could opt to just say we'll do without that million
dollars. That is one of the policy decisions you'll be making
shortly. Pardon?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'm sorry. I was just
mumbling what a great idea. We'll do without that --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Obviously, though, not all capital
projects are impact fee eligible, and we've whittled that down over
time to the current level of 7 million dollars. So I guess further
reductions in capital spending, I would say, would have to be
approached with caution. Obviously knowing what's on the plate for
next year, the medical examiner's facility, the 800 megahertz debt,
we're also talking about a phase one of the County Barn county
maintenance facility.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Sorry, Dan.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: And that's also part of the reason why
we need to develop a five-year plan for those items. COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Right.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: And that, again, is in our policy.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So in a nutshell we're talking
about a 7 million dollar nut, in other words, on 7 million dollars to
avoid an increase over rollback based on what's presented to us
today. I know that's a generalization.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's an area where -- let me explain.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: That was the easy one.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: On page 13 it identifies basically four
scenarios, the percent of increase over rollback in dollars estimated
above rollback. On page 14 it outlines those four scenarios. In
scenario one it assumes continued funding of all existing services.
It assumed no inflationary adjustment, no 3 percent on operating, no
cost-of-living adjustment whatsoever in personal services. And it
also assumed that we would reduce that capital spending by that
million dollars due to that debt being paid off. It also includes the
annualized cost of the sheriff's phase-ins of positions over last year
over like 9 months that would require 12 months' worth of budget this
year as well as the sheriff's pay plan adjustment analyzing the cost
of that.
And then essentially the following three scenarios build
upon that. Scenario two includes inflationary adjustments at three
and a half for personnel, three percent for operating and operating
capital. Scenario three builds on that and restores the million
dollars on capital funding. Scenario four is kind of the
all-inclusive scenario adding in the 39 additional positions for the
sheriff as well as the additional park operating costs of new park
facilities.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: That -- in some -- in some
lending is available. For example, one of the ones that was talked
about earlier by Commissioner Hancock was that perhaps we will choose
not to annualize the cost of the sheriff's pay plan adjustment since
-- since we had hoped that he would take that and do a pro rata pay
plan instead of --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Little more of a phased --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: That's an assumption in scenario
one that we might want to reject.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Well, I think you've already made the
decision to allocate him X amount of dollars. How he implements them
now, again, will be up to the sheriff.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah, but we haven't made
that decision --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We haven't made our decision. I
think you've heard some statements of people that feel that way, but
it hasn't been a policy decision as of yet. MR. SHYKOWSKI: Okay.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We haven't made that decision
for '97.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Right.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We did for the budget; you're
absolutely right. When we talked about the sheriff's pay plan, we
said, we're going to bring it in at this amount. How he spends it is
his business, because we have no control over how he spends it
technically anyway.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Well, when you annualize that type of
work, then 1.5 becomes 2.4 next year.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: If's then from 100 percent
instead of phase-in, correct, Commissioner Hac'Kie?
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Yeah. That's the way I
understood it, that what we had heard technically are subject to
correction, because you know that you're smarter at that -- MR. SHYKOWSKI: I'm assuming he's implemented that at
some point this year.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Here's what I was wishing. I was
wishing that when I -- I don't remember the percentages, but let's say
we gave the sheriff 70 percent of what he asked for for raises.
Instead of implementing the raises at a hundred percent for
three-quarters of the year, he would implement the raises at 70
percent for -- from whatever date he chose.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I remember stating that as a
desire.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Yeah. And I know we can't do
that, but that was not the assumption I wanted to use in next year's
budget for the sheriff.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Both of your discussion goes to the
point that we can't tell the sheriff what to do with that money, but
we can tell him how much money he's going to get.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Right.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Smykowski, I have a question for
you concerning scenario one and scenario four. Scenario one, the
first line says continued funding for existing services. Scenario
four shows operations of a library expansion and two park expansions.
Well, you know, why would we build a new -- a library expansion and
two new parks if we weren't going to operate them? Shouldn't that be
up in scenario one?
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Well, we can choose to -- we can
tell you that we want scenario one with those parks being operated.
So that's the menu for us --
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Some of that would also be
dependent upon South Naples Community Park. I don't think we've
purchased land at this point.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Lake Avalon --
MR. OLLIFF: In each of those three cases, you have a
decision to construct those projects. I would assume that when we
bring you the proposal to go out for bids on construction, you would
want to have that discussion to decide do you want to go ahead with
construction that knowing that there is a next-year operating cost
associated with those. And so on each of those three you still have
that decision yet to make.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: And for the record you are?
MR. OLLIFF: Tom Olliff, your public services
administrator.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: And quite happily.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We knew that, but --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Does that answer your question?
Not really, huh?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: This would not preclude you from adding
that into the budget obviously.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: While we -- just to clarify, while we
may not have officially authorized the construction at this point, we
are certainly well down the road to doing so -- MR. SMYKOWSKI: That's correct.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: -- on all of these projects. This is
one more step in the continuing process of getting any project done.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: The point of this kind of layer-cake
method was to show the impact that we need 7 million dollars before we
even add in any new service, new operating costs above and beyond what
we already have in the budget.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: That's before we come back with
our lists of those programs we're going to cut.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: All right. Mr. Smykowski, it is now
twelve o'clock. How much longer will it take you --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: We're on page 18. It's decision time.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. So we are close to the end?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I -- I have a question on the
revenue portion on scenario one. In the manager's action agenda that
he gave us in January, it's his intention to look at franchise fees;
is that correct, Mr. Dotrill?
MR. DORRILL: We're looking at two. One of them would
be a utility franchise fee and also what we call the first-year
service fee.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: First-year service fee in lieu
of the partial year ad valorem should they not make it available. And
I -- I just want to remind the board that either of those will solve
some of our problem to the -- to the tune of a couple million
dollars. The -- the franchise fee, it's -- it's a new tax. Got to be
honest, I'm not happy with a new tax.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: It's a regressive tax as well.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It's regressive, yeah. But it
does spread the burden over the entire population instead of just the
property owner.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And, frankly, the 50 cents a
month is a lot easier than $50 a year on the ad valorem tax bill.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I mean, I don't want to
preapprove that, but I want the board to keep in mind that we do have
those two items coming to us, I presume, in the near future.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: It's over in that last resort
column.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's correct. Actually those are
outlined on page 18. Again, it summarizes the magnitude of our
problem based on the four scenarios ranging from 7 to 14 million
dollars. And I guess above and beyond that, obviously the manager's
pay plan and the assumption for beach parking revenues that I
utilized, those are not coming in quite as well as anticipated. So my
guess is we'd be somewhere in the neighborhood of scenario three
before it's all said and done looking for anywhere from 10 to 12
million dollars, okay.
And then strategies for balancing the general fund,
obviously on the revenue side we have the ability to increase taxes.
We can allocate some TDC revenue for administrative overhead, although
that's $60,000. The partial-year government services fee, based on a
draft report by the department of revenue, estimates revenue of 1.7
million dollars annually. Again, that would be for properties coming
on the -- issued a certificate of occupancy after January 1 of a given
year.
We could look at increasing EHS rates and implementing
the franchise fee on electric utility lines. That would generate
based, again, on a report prepared by Mr. Yonkosky, 1.4 million
dollars per every 1 percent from an -- of a franchise fee. The
typical maximum fee that have been instituted is 6 percent. So that
could range anywhere from 1.4 million to 8.4 million depending --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Just for example's sake, if
you had 3 percent, you'd have 4.2 million dollars.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That is correct. So that ranges
depending on to what extent the board would be interested in, A,
implementing the fee and then what percent would be set at.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: IF your power bill is a hundred
bucks, that's a $3-a-month addition.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: On the expense side obviously options,
reduce existing service levels, the cost of living adjustment, reduce
capital project funding. We also have the option of -- of deferring
items, which in -- in answer in and of themselves would defer that --
a portion of that impact. Obviously if we -- there is some latitude
in the road funding plan to defer the final year transition of gas
taxes, because in the five-year road plan there is some surplus. We
could actually delay transitioning that final year of gas taxes. That
would be a 2 million dollar savings in FY '97, although the problem
would not go away in FY '98, but it is a means of mitigating the
extent of the impact in the short run.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And the anticipated bump in
'98 is considerably smaller than the bump overall. MR. SHYKOWSKI: That is correct.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: So if you were to bump it a
year, at least you would be spreading out -- COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: -- the hit.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: At this point we're going to need some
policy direction, A, on the cost-of-living adjustment. The report was
based on a three and a half percent cost of living. Human resources
is currently recommending 3.25. For the purposes of the report, it
was assumed to be implemented on 10-1, and I know --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: One of the things I mentioned
earlier today was either a phase-in, do it on calendar anniversary
date, which comes out to roughly mathematically for our purpose 50
percent of what otherwise -- or to do a specific date where everybody
washes in later on in the year. But I would think you could still
give your employees the 3.2 or 3 percent, but by doing it at a later
date or by doing it as a phase-in, the budget, in fact, you could be
1.5orl.6.
MR. DORRILL: I think that's the way we need to go.
I've got a question for Mr. Ochs. Does the -- does the 3.2 include
money for the board's merit bonus program?
MR. OCHS: For the record, Leo Ochs, support services
administrator. No.
MR. DORRILL: Okay, that's -- we need to include that in
the mix, because all of you have told me at one time or another you do
like a one-time performance bonus or some sort of merit -- MR. SHYKOWSKI: And the 1 percent bonus that was
utilized last year was an assumption again of this report.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: It's not in the 3.2, but it's in
these numbers?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Correct.
MR. DORRILL: And it takes 1 percent roughly to do the
type of bonus program we had this year.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Dorrill, you and I had
the conversation of which are you more comfortable with, an
anniversary date-type thing or a specific date.
MR. DORRILL: I prefer just for the ease and cost of
administration to do a midyear cost-of-living adjustment, and that
actually saves you a little more money than anniversary date because
the -- you already have -- your anniversary dates are near the
beginning of the year because that's when people get new positions and
that sort of thing. So I think if you can go April 1, that saves you,
you know, one and a half percent of what you would otherwise be
spending.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: How does that -- if we do a
particular amount for -- if we set aside 1 percent for merit, but that
does not go into effect until April 1 either, does the -- is the net
result one-half?
MR. DORRILL: No, because it's -- remember, it's just a
one time -- it's a lump sum cash bonus that we give them a separate
check. It's not part of their hourly wage.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: If I may, can I ask a question to
clarify the pay plan implementation and how this folds in? Mr.
Dotrill, if I was in a pay classification that was reduced through the
pay plan, which there were some, does my daily salary change when I
show up at work on Monday morning? MR. DORRILL: No.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. Here -- here's my
concern. I like the idea of delaying it halfway through the year
particularly for those -- you know, we now -- we now can say our
salary ranges are, you know, are -- are good. We're there. We're
competitive in those ranges. But daily salaries haven't changed
except for those that have been bumped up. The low end of the scale
moved up so much that they get an increase. My concern is somewhat
allayed in that no one is going to go backwards. But I'm more
concerned about those positions that hold steady as opposed to those
that go up regarding cost of living. And I guess I wanted to throw
that out there if there is some level of looking at instead of across
the board six months it's going to save us less money, but if we
phased to cover those employees who did not get bumped in the pay
plan, that they get cost of living beginning of the year, and those
that got bumped get it halfway through. I know it's a hybrid; it
sounds kind of strange. But my concern is, again, that no one goes
backwards.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Maybe Mr. Ochs can help with
that. I know looking at what was handed out this morning, the average
for the nonexempt employee is 8.61 percent. COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Right.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Some are above; some are
below. But you're right. If somebody stayed an even zero, we need to
carry them another six months.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: It seems that it would be easy to
identify those particular individuals that --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Eighty-three positions.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah. And those 83 should get
cost of living on day one. The balance get it halfway through. It's
kind of a hybrid but, again, I think it sends a better message than
ignoring those folks halfway through the year.
MR. DORRILL: That's why in the previous item to this
one I said that I intended to review every single position for what
I'm calling equity but also on the other side to make sure that nobody
is getting some -- some huge windfall here. And that's why I said --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Maybe I'm speaking out of turn.
If you don't have a concern with this, Mr. Dotrill -- you have your
finger on the pulse with what's going on with the employees better
than we would. So, you know, if what I'm talking about doesn't sound
like something we need to pursue, tell me now and I'll --
MR. DORRILL: I'd say let's not pursue it. Let's focus
on some midyear phase-in for cost of living. COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: As long as you're comfortable
with that, I'd suggest that 3 percent for everyone but do it at
midyear, and that brings it in at 1.5.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Was it recommended at three and a
quarter?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Three and a quarter.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Three point two five.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'm sorry. I was lying to
you.
MR. DORRILL: The most recent cost of living I heard was
closer to 3. Can you comment on that? It was actually two nine five
or two nine nine or something.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Again, we can always go down, but
we can't go up later.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Right. But what I don't want
to do when we go through this is promise expectations for the
employees and have them aggravated when --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: That's back when it was 6.3 --
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Which I voted against. I
don't want to say 3.2 and have -- you know, come in two months from
now and have all of them angry when we say we're only doing 2.9. I
think we ought to try to set something and stick steady with it now so
they know exactly what they can expect.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: Is 3.0 reasonable, Mr. Dotrill?
MR. DORRILL: I think it is.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Still three 0 at your
phase-in is -- MR. DORRILL: One and a half percent which is going to
be something akin to about $625,000.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: That with the knowledge that Mr.
Dotrill is going to do the individual position reviews, it's
comfortable for me.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: In addition to that particular
assumption, I need to understand what our -- well, what I believe we
need to be doing right now, Mr. Smykowski -- and please tell me -- is
going through this layer cake, as you call it, of scenarios and
choosing. We need to adopt some assumptions like --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: We have a 12 million dollar problem. We
need to go down these laundry lists and hopefully add up to 12
million.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: I gotcha. And on your -- and on
your revenue -- on the revenue strategies I had a question. Increase
taxes I marked off because that's going to be the very last choice.
Allocate TDC revenue for administrative overhead, that would get us
60,000 bucks. We can do that Mr. Weigel? If we can, let's do it.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We have on the beach
restoration.
MR. DORRILL: Yes. You allocate a portion of my time
and Mike's time and Miss Gansel's time. Those are all eligible
expenses.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Then I'm for that with the
understanding that is including --
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Public works is included in the
budget every time there is a public works project.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And we've approved that every
time.
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Right. I think Mr. Dotrill is
talking about administrative time, i.e., his own and Mr. Smykowski's
to manage the budget for the TDC and so forth.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: I think we should do that.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Dotrill, you said that
would save six twenty-five.
MR. DORRILL: That was just my rough number.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So there's another sixty. I'm
very interested in this implementation, the partial-year government
service fee. That's the one I would like to do and what -- people are
looking perplexed in the audience. What that is, since we can't get
partial-year ad valorem taxes -- when you construct a new home on the
property, we can't get it on the tax rolls until the next year. This
would be a fee we could charge to make up that gap, which I think is a
great idea.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: If you open your home on
January 2nd, you get a free ride.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: For the whole year.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: For 22 months. It's not one
year; it's 22 months.
MR. DORRILL: The legal analysis for that preliminarily
was done by Palm Beach County, and our proposal is very similar to the
proposal that Palm Beach County had. If we were going to do that, it
would need to be in effect on October the 1st. I will tell you that
Palm Beach County never implemented their proposed first-year service
fee because of unbelievable pressure from the development community as
that being an additional cost of construction.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We don't have that problem here.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Weigel, I had asked you
to do some homework on this. Do you have any idea what it's going to
be?
MR. WEIGEL: Yes. I don't know about the legal analysis
done by Palm Beach County, but we've done legal analysis previously.
In December of 1994 the firm of Neighbors, Giblin provided its legal
analysis to Lee, Charlotte, and Collier County. And in their memo,
their legal memo, they indicated that they did not believe, based upon
the case law that existed at that time, that the partial-year
ad valorem service fee was a legally viable alternative.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Let's challenge it. I mean,
let's implement one.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I thought Dade County --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I want to do it anyway.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: -- was doing it.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Let's let Mr. Weigel finish.
MR. WEIGEL: We've communicated with Neighbors, Giblin
to assist us in any update or review they have of their opinion.
We've done our own research looking at the statutes and the case law,
which hasn't changed. And, again, it was a bit of a recommendation.
And at that time based upon what the Florida Association of Counties
was doing, the Nabors, Giblin opinion opined that the best -- the
best way rather than chaping away at an ordinance basis subject to the
attacks that have already truly run aground in court as of that time
was to pursue the statewide legislative process which, of course, has
endeavored to have been done by this board in the past two years with
the resolutions as adopted. So we may have a -- a revised opinion
from them. But based on our research, we don't find anything that
would lead us away from what we think is a very well considered
opinion at the time they made it in December of '94.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Dorrill, the format this
is put forth in -- and if it's done with some standard policy and not
done according to size the way our impact fees are, that it may be
possible, and I'm not sure that's exactly how the '94 opinion -- what
that was based on and maybe just update the board on where we're --
MR. DORRILL: Quickly, we did receive the ordinance that
went to public hearing in Palm Beach County. We received it
yesterday. There was a complete financial nexus component that was
done, which was the same test and rule that applies to impact fees.
And we have asked for that information as well. I think that we need
to pursue evaluating this and taking it to a public hearing. But I
think it needs to be on a legally defensible basis and work -- the
easiest one to me seems to be square footage, because that way we're
not assuming or applying either a perceived assessed value before one
is created by -- by Mr. Skinner, nor are we applying a subterfuge of
that which would be construction value. And I think that if we try to
ascribe it to square footage for residential, commercial, industrial,
you know, we're exhausting opportunities to show you these and let you
give us direction.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And my point just being it's
not based on value the way an ad valorem tax rate would be. MR. NORRIS: That's correct.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Mr. Yonkosky is here if you have any
comment. He prepared the initial draft report and -- MR. DORRILL: Let's hang on a second. We got a long
ways to go, and I don't want us to get bogged down on any --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Question over here. Mr. Weigel.
MR. WEIGEL: Uh-huh.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Who was Nabors, Giblin working for when
that opinion was rendered?
MR. WEIGEL: They were working for all three. In fact,
they do have a relationship with each of the three counties, and it
was an opinion rendered to all three at the same time.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: And does Neighbors, Giblin have
strong development representation in their background?
MR. WEIGEL: Well, they really have strong county
representation in their background, Florida Association of Counties
and numerous counties. They're kind of known as the home rule type of
law firm in the sense that traditionally they have sided with counties
having autonomy as opposed to being bound and having problems
operating under the state statutes. So I hate to paraphrase, but I
will. And I expect that we have received from them in the context of
their other kind of work an opinion, again, dated December '94, which
was as far as they felt comfortable to give at that time. And we're
trying to see if they have moved from that position at this time right
now.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Dotrill, we're into our lunch period here.
How long is this -- you anticipate our presentation to go from here?
MR. DORRILL: The presentation's concluded. If we can
work down the list of potential solutions, that's all that we need to
-- to do.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So that one is one that we're going to get
a presentation on, and we're going to see if we can implement it in a
legally defensible --
MR. DORRILL: I think it needs to be included in the mix
because otherwise you're going to have to cut expenses or raise
property taxes somewhere before we get to the bottom of this page.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: You're looking for direction
from the board that we do include that as part of it? COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Everybody nod.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: It appears we have to do something.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Got it.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I have a comment. Also at the
partial-year ad valorem meeting that I went to at the FAC last Friday
-- I sent you all a memo -- there was another item that they were
talking about that's available as well. And these are -- these are
some of the strategies that -- that the counties discussed, and that's
construction work in process which would go even before the C.O. It
would be work in process. I don't know how we would do that on other
than a construction value, but that -- that's also another one that
individual counties are investigating for the availability of -- of
additional funds. And the representative from Nabors, Giblin was
at that meeting, and he was not saying that was not a good way to go.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. Mr. Smykowski, please continue.
MR. DORRILL: The next one I think is a franchise fee.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's correct.
MR. DORRILL: There again, I'll give you a brief history. There
is another non-chartered county in the state, which is Santa Rosa
County that has -- I don't know who the regulated power company is
there, but this essentially would give non-chartered counties the same
ability that charted counties and municipals have, which is to charge
franchise fees on telephone and regulated electric utilities, natural
gas if they applied. They don't in this county. My understanding is
that the county prevailed in the initial hearing in Santa Rosa County,
which is Fort Walton Beach adjacent to Pensacola. The latest FAC
information is that the power company in lieu of pursuing an appeal has
-- has indicated they'd like to discuss a settlement but recognizing
the county's right and ability to charge a franchise fee in return for
their allowing power poles to be in the public right-of-way. And
that's essentially the basis of the argument in 15 seconds.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Can we do a franchise fee with a
one-year sunset?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Do it annually?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Well, yeah, because, you know,
the idea is there's no such thing as a tax that's ever repealed. And
just as we did with the 3 percent beach renourishment, we set it for a
definitive period and tried to make it so it couldn't be monkeyed
with. We're looking at a one-year shot here, a one-year revenue
required. I'd hate to see it perpetuate unless it were absolutely
necessary.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That's not the case at all,
because we're talking about a 12 percent increase this year and a 3 or
4 percent increase next year, assuming the 12 percent is done. So, I
mean, they're all piggybacked.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's correct. Once you balance your
budget utilizing that source and if you sunset it, you'd have a 2
million dollar hole a year from now --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I do think, though, your
point is well taken if we can review that along with the other items
annually. The government always finds a way to spend money if you
have it there. So if we can review that annually, then we'd have the
ability to remove that, we certainly should.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It would seem to be that we can
put into the ordinance establishing it that the rate must be set each
and every year. In the ordinance if you fail to set a rate, then you
don't collect it.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: That's good. We skipped right
over increase EHS rates, and I hope that was intentional.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Before we do that, do we want
to set a percentage rate?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Yes, three.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: You have typical maximum fee of 6
percent; is that--
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Three percent of this is
enough?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That's correct, based on our preliminary
report.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Three percent would raise 4.2
million?
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: The -- and the initial-year
government fee will raise what? One point seven? MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yeah.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We can reduce that later, can't
we?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Sure.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Sure we can.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I'll go with three for now, but I
want to see the rest of the budget before -- I'd like to bring that
down if possible.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: In addition to -- to making these
revenue assumptions, we're about to make some expense assumptions,
too; right?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: That is correct.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Okay. I don't want to leave on
there continued funding for existing -- MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yeah. You can balance this either way,
increase revenues or decrease expenses or a combination thereof.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: My point backs up what
Commissioner Hancock just said, which is we can come back later and we
get cut, then we're not going to need to generate this much revenue.
MR. DORRILL: I think the next one in progression would
be the analysis of deferring the sales tax transfer to road and
bridge.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Let me ask you a question.
We skipped over EHS. My question there is we had purposely lowered
that the last couple of years to try to take care of Hedicare and the
amount of payment they would put forward. Is there any increase or
any anticipated increase --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: In the rate?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yes.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yes. It has already been adjusted to
approximately $280.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: The purpose when we lowered
it was to bring it down to where Hedicare would pick up --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: If Hedicare has gone up, then I
think the logic still stands rather than the county tax base eating it
__
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We don't need to subsidize
Hedicare. So if we add -- Commissioner Norris had done the math a
little bit and if -- I think $30 -- you just said 280 -- $30 should
equal just a little less than 300,000.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Only about 40 percent of our transports
are Hedicare.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: But the point being the 600,000
deficit last year, so anything is helpful.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I'm saying, though, it may not be 300.
It might be 120.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Whatever it is.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: We will do 25 a month.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. The
number is based on everybody, not just Hedicare patients. Everyone
has to pay.
COHHISSIONER HANCOCK: Everybody pays 280.
COHHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'm just trying to stay
consistent. The purpose -- as I recall, the purpose that we picked
250 was that the Hedicare -- it equated with what Hedicare would pick
up. Obviously everybody doesn't have that. Track Hedicare.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Track Hedicare.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: If they're up to 280, then we
ought to go to 280, and if we generate -- theoretically it generates
an additional 300. If we don't get all that, we don't get all that.
But I think that's fair and stays consistent with the policy the board
had set in the past.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Dorrill, can we set a policy
that our EHS rates track Hedicare? MR. DORRILL: Sure.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Did we just do that?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: In the rate resolution adjusted --
MR. OCHS: Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, again, Leo Ochs for
the record. As part of the board's action agenda for the manager, we
will be to the board before the end of March with an executive summary
on this very topic that will do, I think, in essence, what you're all
talking about.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Maybe you can skip it. We just
did it.
MR. OCHS: Well, we need to do that kind of legally.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I understand you need to do
it legally, but for policy purposes, Mr. Smykowski, it appears -- I
saw a nod down here.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Nod, nodding.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Track Hedicare rates --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: It gets us to approximately 7 million
dollars. Mr. Dotrill, the next item on the list had indicated a
one-year deferral of that shift, a final transition of gas taxes to
the road program. It's approximately 2 million dollars, granted,
though, it is a deferral. It is not --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I like to defer only from the
standpoint of what I said before where we had a large bump we're
dealing with this year. Next year if we hit a small bump, there may
be -- obviously we have to deal with it then, but it's much easier for
us and, frankly, for the taxpayer if you have two tiny bumps instead
of one great big one, so I like the idea of the deferral.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I do, too.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Likewise.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Yeah.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: That was 2 million. The deferral
has a one-year value of 2 million that we will pick up next year.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Right.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Correct.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: It buys you a year of time to address
the problem.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And I'm not interested in
deferral of either of those park projects except to the extent that
they're not built. Let's get to expenses.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Okay. Obviously we've already addressed
the cost of living, cutting it back to one and a half versus three
point five, so we -- that's about 900,000.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I'm sorry. What was that?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. The reduction of capital
project funding. We'll see at the budget hearings a detailed list of
the proposed projects so that we can pick and choose at that time; is
that correct?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Correct. But the issue is, again, you
have in the past allocated 7 million dollars, slightly above 7 million
dollars. This year, if you'd refer back to the top of page 12, you
spent roughly 4.6 on projects, 2.4 on debt service this year. Next
year a component of that debt service goes away because the campus
parking lot is paid off.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: In looking at your comments
on the bottom of page 11, it says debt services retired, campus
parking debt service this year, hereby providing an additional 1
million for capital projects in '97, or the BCC also has the option of
reducing capital spending further.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: I'm for B.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'd like to see us reduce
that further.
CHAIRPERSON MATTHEWS: Well, I would --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Again, you have to take that into
context, too, in the types of things we have on the plate.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: But that debt service number has
gone away, so to that extent --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Excuse me. Excuse me. This is not a
workshop. Let's try to talk in order here. We're making it very hard
for our court reporter. Don't just jump in and out.
The -- what I would like to see is we've got a number
here that says 7 million dollars allocated for capital project funding
next year, but we don't know what those projects are at this stage. I
think we should -- we should have a goal of reducing that number, if
that's what we desire, but we need to look at the individual projects
to see how we're going to do that. That's a policy decision.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Does that 7 million include
the 1,034,0007
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yes.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: So our goal is to get that
down to 6 million. And if we find something that pops us up above
that but that's the goal we're shooting for?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I can't agree with that as a goal
understanding we have no idea what those projects are at this point,
and we'll need to weigh them, but I'm willing to set that as a goal.
I just -- I, like Commissioner Norris, I want to see that list,
because there are going to be some years where something that may
yield us savings down the road needs to be built this year. And those
tradeoffs have to come at some point. So, yeah, I don't want to
remove it off the top. If we want to set it as a no-go for that, I'm
fine with that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: What else?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: The remaining would either be a
combination of reducing existing service levels or increasing
ad valorem taxes.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: By reducing existing service
levels, there are four departments here that we will know at least
give us a menu of what some of the options there are.
MR. DORRILL: In addition, you need to keep in mind that
failure to -- to get either one or both of those two revenues also
creates a potential problem. So --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So maybe we should look back at
the scenarios at this point to -- to talk about what will be the
assumptions on expenses; right? I mean, that's where we go back at
this point instead of just globally saying we'll try to reduce
existing service levels in five departments. The continued funding
for existing services was the first expenses assumption, and I'm --
I'm suggesting that that might not be an appropriate assumption for
this year's budget.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. Mr. Smykowski, we're back.
Commissioner Constantine has a question for you.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Of those -- of all those
projects we just deferrals -- if you add up all the numbers we've just
said, that is roughly equal to 8.2 million.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: I came up with 10.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Pardon me?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: I came up with 10.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Well, I hope you're right.
Anyway, point being you had suggested we needed to come up with
somewhere in the neighborhood of 127 MR. SMYKOWSKI: Correct.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'm looking here at scenario
3, and it says 10,734,800, and I just -- MR. SMYKOWSKI: This analysis did not include the county
manager's pay plan adjustment --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Okay.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: -- and in addition, the analysis was
based on beach parking generating this year 750,000. At this point it
looks like it's going to be 300,000, so I'm drawing --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Surprise.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: -- into the picture.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Also lost.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Can we run through what it is
that tallies up to ten, because maybe I just missed one here?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Sure.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We had the 4.2 for franchise
fees.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We had 1.7 for partial-year
service fee; correct?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: Yes.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We had --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: The cost of living and the TDC, roughly
700,000.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Correct.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: That gets us to 6.6.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: EMS had 300. But I think
that may have not been actually -- COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Let's go conservative on that,
because I agree, it's more like 200 or less. Can we assume that at
200,0007 We need a feel on that one.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, the math is real simple. There
was about two and a half million dollars generated on $250 fee, so
that's about $10 per ride, I mean, each $10 --
SMYKOWSKI: You are actually closer to 9 million --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Okay.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: -- with the 2 million dollars for the
deferral.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Then the 2 million for
deferral. And did I leave something out, or did I just do my math
wrong?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: You may not want the answer to
that question.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Just embarrass me a little
further.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: About 9 million.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So we're at 9 million.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Now, let me -- let me see if I've got
it here. We just went down through a list of things that we are
directing you to -- to bring back to us. MR. SHYKOWSKI: Right.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: In addition, some of the things that
we have talked about earlier that we need to also direct you to do,
which certainly include the direction to inform the constitutional
officers of what our desires are as soon as possible, so we need board
discussion on how we're going to present our -- our concerns to the
constitutional officers at this point.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: As a -- on that point, as looking
-- just looking at the projected '97, I see things like Hary Horgan
dealing with an incredible workload only coming in at 2.3 percent
increase. I see the other constitutional officers coming in at 3
percent or less. I think to ask any more of them to bring it in at
less than 3 percent when cost of living is roughly 3 is -- is -- last
year I think we said something like that, an ad valorem neutral, and
it was 3 percent or less, and they all came in, you know, in that
area.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: With one exception.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah, I'd like to set a goal
better than that rather than just assume 3 percent is good. I'd like
to set it at zero, or I'd like to set it at a decrease and see what we
can do and what does that mean. If they come back and say, well,
gosh, that means we won't be able to do X, Y, and Z. If you're
looking for a decrease, we may decide that we still need to do X, Y,
and Z for the best interest of the county, but at least we'll have
that picture. And, you know, I'd like to set our policy of trying to
do a cut. And I'd like to set that for them as well, maybe a minimal
cut.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: In effect a zero percent increase would be a
cut. I think that should be the goal.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Chairman --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Yes.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: -- we had asked the constitutionals last
year to come back with a millage neutral budget, meaning don't cause us
to raise the millage on your behalf. And even -- even if they do that
this year, they're going to get whatever assessed value increases would
be available to them, and many of these percentage increases that we're
looking at for the constitutionals are exactly that. They're under the
3 percent assessed value limitation. And I -- I would prefer to ask
the constitutionals to come back with a millage neutral budget as
opposed to a zero dollar increase.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: I need to clarify the chart on page 15.
Those are not the percentage increase -- that's the percentage of the
dollar increase, the 14 million dollar increase, so --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: My apologies. You're right.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Ms. Horgan's budget would go from 1.4 --
1.5tol.9.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: I misread that. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: She's got a 30 percent
increase.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: It's kind of -- I'm torn between
those constitutional officers every year that squeeze and try and
force it in and get that square peg in a round hole rather than taking
action that's kind of seen as, you know, kicking them when the target
area is maybe elsewhere. That's my only concern.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And I don't think it's
kicking them at all. I think our job is to whittle down that budget
as much as we can. Their job is obviously to do whatever service it
is their job requires at as little cost. The reason all those come
before us is because it's our job to do the budgets. I don't see it
as kicking them. I see it as just doing our job. As long as we
communicate clearly with them, which we haven't always done, then I
think they'll be okay with that.
I'd like to set a goal. I've got to agree with Commissioner
Norris. I'd like to set the goal to zero which equates to a cut.
Whenever anyone is running for office, they talk about government does
too much; government spends too much. Let's not assume there needs to
be an increase. Let's assume maybe a decrease, because we're doing it
on ours, we're saying we're going to have cut some stuff. Let's ask
them to do the same thing that we're asking of ourselves, and that is
to look at some cuts.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: So your suggestion is to ask them to
bring back a dollar neutral or less budget.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'd like to see that, yeah.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Do we have --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I think that's very difficult
and very challenging, but we're asking ourselves to look at cutting,
and I think we need to ask them the same.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Are we asking ourselves to do
dollar neutral?
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'd like to, yeah.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We've just identified certain
new sources of funds. That's not exactly dollar neutral.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: See, here's my -- my concern is
we are in a growth area. What we're, in essence, asking not to
maintain the same level of service at the same dollars. We're asking
to maintain an increased level of service at fewer dollars minus any
cost-of-living increases, and I think that in order to do that, you
have to have some fat on the bone.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: How about if we ask for a
slight decrease in millage, say, instead of dollar --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah, that's --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And that way --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: My only concern is not sending
the wrong message --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I agree with you
wholeheartedly, and your explanation is good because there may be
grant funds out there. There may be other things that are --
budget-wise you might bump 1 percent, but if they could decrease
ad valorem by say point 1 or by -- you know, by 1 percent, point 01,
by 1 percent, then, you know, if there are other revenue sources out
there --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: And that's a good point, because we
don't particularly care how much state grant funds they spend or
acquire and get and all that. We're concerned primarily at this level
with the ad valorem taxation, so I would be supportive of -- of asking
the constitutional officers to bring us back a millage neutral budget
as we did -- as we did last year. That would give them the -- the
regular increase that would accrue from construction and property
value increase, if any.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Which is the growth related --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Absolutely. Which is their growth --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Commissioner Constantine is
trying to go one step further.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah, and I'll try one more
time. You wouldn't have any interest in asking for a 1 percent
decrease?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Which is a point -- well, it
depends on --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I think that's going to be a
little hard to do because, I mean, we've just identified two new
funding sources totaling almost 6 million dollars, and -- and if we
want to accrue all of that 6 million dollars to our own 40 percent of
the total budget --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: It's not fair.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: -- that's not fair.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: But by saying --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I understand the attempt to try
to make your budget as tight as you can, and I'm all for that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: So your vote is --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: My vote is millage neutral.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hancock.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Can I ask before you say
that, the items we identified we are going to claim on our own,
because the amount of money that we do or don't increase for our
employees doesn't affect the other constitutional officers. We can
ask them to do that as part of theirs, but that 625,000 is ours. The
1.7 million, the 4.2, the 2 million dollar deferral on -- on the
roads, that's not going to go over to the sheriff or to any of the
other constitutional officers. So when you ask are we going to hang
on to that, by the nature of what the majority of those are, yes, we
are.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Those particular items I agree;
you're absolutely right, because we control those within our own
budget. But we're looking at a 1.7 million possibility on the
government first-year service fee and a 4.2 million dollar franchise
fee and, you know, with all due respect, I think that constitutionals
with their growth issues as well, especially Mrs. Morgan with the
voter impact, is, however, going to come back and say I need a piece
of that, too.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Which challenges us to be dollar
negative.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: And they may. But that 12
million dollars that Mr. Smykowski is talking about takes that into
consideration. You're looking at the total ad valorem picture.
You're not looking just at ours.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: What --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Again, it all comes back to
one big pie, and we have a piece of it. I think we should ask for a
decrease. Yes, that would be difficult. Yes, that would be hard.
But that's our job, is to do difficult things.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: When you say decrease, I'm --
specifically help me out. Commissioner Norris is asking for
direction. Do you want to go which way; millage neutral, or what
direction are you suggesting?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Hillage decrease of 1 percent.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay. I'll go for that. We're
setting a target for ourselves, too.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: How does that relate to what we've set for
ourselves? We -- you told us to find 12 million bucks. We found 9
million bucks.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: So far.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: So far. What's the millage
relationship to that three-point spread?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: You mean that 3 million dollars?
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: I'm sorry, that 3-million-dollar
spread.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, Commissioner Hac'Kie, our goal
here is try and do the same as what we're asking the constitutional
officers, and that is not to positively impact the millage rate.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: And I'm excited about the idea of
potentially negatively affecting the millage rate. So if -- if -- but
my question is, I can't conceive of asking a constitutional to do
something greater than we are doing.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: All of us are doing.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: If we're going to do it, too,
despite the fact we've identified 6 million dollars in additional
funding sources --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Which we may not need all of.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Right, let's not spend it just
because we've identified it.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I don't want to be spending
money knowing the others --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: No, not at all. My
suggestion is that -- as Commissioner Norris said, my suggestion is
that the policy be the same for all of us, that we abide by it, and we
ask constitutional officers to abide by it, but we try to have a 1
percent ad valorem decrease.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: In a year where we already know
we're 12 million dollars short over current?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: No one says we'll succeed.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Excuse me, now. We're talking about
ad valorem.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Right.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We're not talking about franchise fees
or that sort of thing. And we're not talking about their state grants
or any of the other money that they may get from other source of
funding. We're talking about the impact on the ad valorem taxpayer.
We're asking them to be level or less, and we're -- our goal is to do
the same thing, ad valorem. Don't try to equate that to dollars.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Mr. Dorrill, I'm not sure we're
talking apples and oranges, though. Mr. Dotrill, does a hundred
percent of the budget other than the fees that the constitutionals
collect come from the general fund?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: No. A component of the sheriff's budget
is funded by fund 111. And obviously the clerk -- well, that is --
MR. DORRILL: The vast majority of it is in the general
fund. The sheriff's budget gets about 6 or 7 million dollars from the
unincorporated general fund.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay. But earlier today we said
that your agency and the BCC along with the transfers, it makes up
about 40 percent of the budget. MR. DORRILL: Correct.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: And we've identified roughly 6
million dollars worth of new funding sources. And with the proposal
that Commissioner Constantine is -- is making, I mean, help me if I'm
wrong, but it sounds like we want to keep all that 6 million dollars
to ourselves and decrease our proportionate share of the general fund
__
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I will help you --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: -- and that's okay. I just want
to make sure that we are saying what we intend to do.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That's not my suggestion.
The 12 million dollar shortfall includes all ad valorem expenditures,
whether that comes from the clerk or the sheriff or us. The money
that we have just outlined that will assist the 9 million dollar total
in trying to offset that goes toward that 12 million dollar total.
Now, some of that may go to the sheriff, and some may go to the clerk,
whatever.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'm trying to look at the one
big number of ad valorem regardless of to whom that expenditure goes.
And I guess all I'm asking is should we set as a policy goal to have a
tax decrease or not.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We talked about we would set as a
goal a 1 percent decrease.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I think it's an excellent goal.
I just --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: There's three votes.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I'm not sure we're sending the
right message to the constitutionals that we're going to raise fees
and raise taxes in some other direction --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We're not saying that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Excuse me, excuse me. That's fine if
you don't think it's correct. Let's start from this end and find out
if that's what we want to do. Commissioner Hac'Kie.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I'm supporting the 1 percent
decrease as a goal.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I believe you are.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I am.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I am. And you can voice your
dissention if you like.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Commissioner Norris, it's not
dissention. I'm trying to be a realist in this, and I think it's an
excellent goal.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Headline reads Matthews
opposes tax decrease.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: If we can achieve the goal, I
think it's great.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: We've got our work cut out for
us.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Tell us what --
MR. DORRILL: I just want you to know the bottom line is
__
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Thank you.
MR. DORRILL: -- which is what you pay me to do. You've
identified potentially 9 of the 12 million dollars. A 1 percent
property tax reduction below the rollback rate, which the way I
understand Mr. Constantine's proposal, is $600,000, so there is --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We can do it.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah.
MR. DORRILL: Three million six hundred thousand dollars
worth of expense cuts that would need to be prorated amongst everyone
who is in the general fund.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We can do that.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: What's in that 12 million dollars? I
mean, we were talking --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Smykowski. Mr. Smykowski, one of
the things we talked about earlier was each of us five putting together
our list of potential areas to be cut. We need from you -- I'd like to
set a time frame for us to do that. But we need from you some
information in order to do that. And I need to know what time frame
you can provide that to us, the information, so we know, you know, what
capital projects are proposed, what --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We can find our 3 million bucks.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: What ongoing projects are
funded? We can go back through last year's budget, and I can look at
the board -- know what we're funded at.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: How dare you.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Is there a comprehensive
simple way for us to go through on a menu choice of what are our
priorities and what items we think we can live without?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: I believe so. We had assembled --
compiled a list of all of the discretionary programs from last year's
program workshops. I can probably have it to you this afternoon.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Perfect.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: It does have dollar amounts on it.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We want those.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, let me -- let me suggest to the
board members that Mr. Smykowski supply us with that information
including the cap -- the proposed capital project fundings for next
year and have that to us sometime this week and that we come back in
our meeting of the 26th with these proposed cuts from each board
member.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Okay. Could -- could I also
ask, Mr. Chairman, that Mr. Smykowski give us a detailed listing of
what makes up the 12 million, because area 3 is 10.7 and scenario 4 is
14.4, and we're at some hybrid.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Again, I think the county manager -- the
pay plan adjustment was not included here. That is one, and beach
parking fees, the numbers I used in this analysis are not
materializing.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Will you write that down on a list --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Yes.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Thanks.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: What a shock.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: It's only materializing to the tune of
$300,000.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Let's see. Before we had --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Nothing.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay, okay, okay, okay.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Free access.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: It's only producing one-third.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: All right.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Next item. Let's move on.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So those proposed cuts are due on the 26th?
MR. DORRILL: Yeah. And my understanding, in order to
be perfectly clear, is that they're to be pro rata -- prorated based
on the current portion of the general fund that every agent -- agency
manager spends. It's my responsibility to come up with essentially 40
percent including reserve -- including transfers of that 3.6 million
in cuts that we're looking for. I'm responsible for 40 percent of
it. The constitutional officers are responsible for 60 percent of it.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah. And we can decipher
that as it goes on. As Commissioner Hancock said, this is an election
year. If Mary Morgan is at 2.1 percent instead of 2.3 percent or
whatever and we have an opportunity to make up the difference, then we
will. I don't know that we can divvy the pie up perfectly that way.
I hope the responsibility breaks that way, but if any one of us can do
more and it ends up offsetting somewhere, then that's fine, but --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: How are we going to communicate
clearly to the other constitutional officers what our expectation is
by the scenario Mr. Dotrill just laid out, because if we say 60
percent to the rest of them, who will do what and how much?
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Why don't we have Mr. Dorrill
put together a memo indicating what the board's policy is today, run
it by the chairman to make sure it's adequate, and then we'll --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I bet they're all listening, and
they already know.
MR. DORRILL: So that we don't have the problem we've
had in years past, I think it would behoove the board to ask the
chairman to meet with them to then explain it. If I go, they always
get on their high horses if you send your hired -- hired boy to go
down there and tell them. I think the chairman --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay. I'll be glad to do that.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Let's send our chairman boy down there.
MR. DORRILL: And that's why we had our previous discussion. I'm
assuming that your cost of living scenario applies also. They can
either get one and a half percent on October the 1st, or they can get 3
percent on April the 1st, but otherwise your budget instructions apply
countywide.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I think the important thing
we need to do is be standard across the board. If we're doing it for
ourselves, we need to ask them to do the same.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And, Mr. Dorrill, on that 60-40
split, my goal would be for you to be the hero and do more than your
share.
MR. DORRILL: We always do, Commissioner.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Okay.
MR. DORRILL: We lead the county when it comes to making
tough decisions.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Good.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I have to say something on that.
One of the reasons we deferred the cost of living was because we just
went through a salary adjustment, pay adjustment process. They have
not. The employees of the tax collector and property appraiser are
not subject to the county manager's pay adjustment so --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: My understanding is the
clerk's coming back to us shortly with an adjustment --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: But he hasn't done it yet.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: But he hasn't done it yet. And
I'm concerned with if there's no adjustment of salary, what we're
asking them to defer six months is not an even playing field. One of
the main reasons we deferred for six months or one of the possible
reasons was because of that salary adjustment. So I'm not sure I want
to send that direction to other constitutional officers unless they
have had a pay adjustment.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Like the sheriff's department.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: You're right.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Makes sense. Does that conclude the
presentation, Mr. Smykowski?
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We need to pick our dates yet.
MR. SHYKOWSKI: To set quickly -- unincorporated areas
on pages 19 and 20. Essentially the tax picture there looks pretty
good. I'm looking at a 1.4 percent increase over rollback.
Obviously, though, one major component in fund 111 is in the past year
we had budget reserves for future impact fee payments of 1.4 million.
However, in a number of cases, we've gotten financial instruments from
developers equivalent to the future value of those impact fees. So in
terms of -- our restricted carryforward is only $124,000 next year
that provides funding available that we would recommend setting aside
as a reserve for capital projects in the unincorporated area that we
could perhaps utilize for some stormwater drainage improvements,
whatever the case may be. So there appears to be some one-time money
that we would recommend setting aside and using for a one-time
expense.
Pollution control, doesn't look like there would be any
millage increase necessary.
All -- the only other question is board workshop dates
in June. We could perhaps sit down with Mr. Dotrill and then under
maybe BCC communication next week set those.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: That's fine with me.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: What was that?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Do it under BCC communications
next week.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Workshop dates?
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Obviously we'd be looking probably the
third week in June or later if it could be worked out and to provide
you with all the information you would have or need and in the desired
two-week-ahead-of-time format.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Could I suggest at the same time
that we set the workshop dates that we set our summer break dates
also, because it seems that -- at least last year especially because
it was a three-week break instead of two week, we put pressure on the
budget department. And since we're looking for all these changes in
June, I think we probably ought to set our break weeks at the same
time, and then we all know what we're --
MR. SHYKOWSKI: Obviously if our workshops could be held
the last week in June all the better of providing the information to
you all, the public, as well as just being able to grind out all the
changes.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We don't need to make a
decision now, but I thought I'd throw out a suggestion for the break,
and that is with the exception of last year -- and you mentioned,
Commissioner Matthews, the 4th of July on a Tuesday. COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Exceptional year.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: What we've done normally is
the first two weeks of July and at the end of August taken a break.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: That's too much.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I remember particularly last
year we did very, very little in between the two breaks. Our agendas
lasted until about 10:15. One of them I think went until about 9:50,
so I don't know that it's that pressing. I was going to suggest that
we go with the first two weeks in July still and then take maybe the
last couple of weeks in August and, you know, leave the space in
between to do what we need to do.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: That's fine with me.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: That's fine with me, but Miss
Filson is probably eating something that did not settle with her.
What -- you've been caught, Miss Filson. Is there anything else you'd
like to add?
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Where is that camera?
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: That's fine with me. I make my
plans around whatever we schedule, so -- are you going this year?
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I guess one of my questions is
that if Mr. Smykowski would like to come back with the last week in
June for the workshops, and this -- this is sounding like we're all
very much involved in this budget, and I think that we have a number
of members of the public that want to get involved in it also, that
three days is what we've normally done. Three days may not do it this
time. And we might need to spread it out or even go into that first
week of -- of July. So I --
MR. SMYKOWSKI: We have to release the tentative budget
on July 15th. Typically it goes to the printer about the 7th so --
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Mr. Smykowski.
MR. SMYKOWSKI: The last two weeks in June, if we could
do the workshops, then we'll have to make it work.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: That's what I was going to
ask you. We did bump it a week earlier last year. If we can do --
even get it to like the 20th or the 21st, which is the next-to-the-last
week, and then do whatever we need to do, meet as many times as we need
to meet, the final reading, not only for us, but if we want public
participation, the public disappears the 4th of July, that week. So --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That's exactly right. We may
want to look at the third week of June to a carryover to the fourth
week if we can't finish.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Is that all right?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: That's fine.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: The audience is looking very
hungry.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We are, too.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Everybody is sitting slumped
over.
MR. DORRILL: You have one member of the public who has
asked to speak, Gil Erlichman
MR. SMYKOWSKI: We also need to adopt the resolution or
the draft resolution with -- Mr. Weigel has a change in the terms of
the constitutional officer submission dates. There was a draft
resolution, and so we would want your approval on that as a part of
this item.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Mr. Erlichman.
MR. ERLICHMAN: Good afternoon, Commissioners. I'm not
going to be very long. I have two comments and a question. First of
all, I'd like to thank -- Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank
Mr. Constantine for his relentless pursuit of that decrease. I
appreciate his efforts on that part, and I've listened to this whole
budget review, and I -- I think you did a very good job, sir.
And, secondly, I got a message from the -- from
Representative Saunder's office. This is from A1 Perkins. He said
please publicly cite the commissioners for getting information out
over the TV to get people registered to vote.
The other -- my question is on page 16 of the executive
summary fiscal year '98, and it says in addition to annual
inflationary cost increases, the following mandates were included in
the fiscal year '98 budget analysis. I understand -- I have a feeling
I understand all those with the exception of regional athletic
complex. Now, what is the regional athletic complex?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I circled that one out of the
lack of knowledge myself. I --
MR. ERLICHHAN: And then it continues on in fiscal year
'99, the same thing, regional athletic complex, but it's $210,000
versus $260,000 in fiscal year '98. Please tell me what the regional
athletic complex is.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: A place for regional athletes to
go.
MR. OLLIFF: The regional athletic complex, I'm not '-
I'm not looking at what he's got, but I'm assuming that's showing some
operating expenses in probably '98 or '99. That is a project that is
-- we're trying to out-year plan, and that is the next type project
we've talked to you about in terms of a district-sized park with
multiple tournament-sized softball fields in one location and multiple
soccer fields at one location. It's something that's in the five-year
plan, but it's something that, frankly, we don't even have the
property for as yet and don't have a project account. So we're trying
to out-year plan, again, a project, what we think are going to be
those type expenses, but that's a project that's not yet underway at
all.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So there's an answer to the
current demand on the community park for soccer fields, baseball
fields, and projecting when population increases the fact that a
single complex is going to be more efficient than three or four
community parks?
MR. OLLIFF: Exactly. And you're making this cost go
around. You have not any tournament-type activities if we don't have
a facility for today.
MR. ERLICHHAN: Well, that certainly relieves my -- my
worries because I thought that it's -- it had something to do with
this regional sports complex that's being promoted. Thank you very
much, Commissioners.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: If they want to build it for us,
We Ca~.
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Be happy to.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We need a motion to adopt the
resolution that Mr. Smykowski was talking about. Now, before we do
that, all the direction that we gave at the end of our discussion will
not be altered by the adoption of this resolution; is that correct?
MR. SMYKOWSKI: That is correct.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Okay.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'll make a motion we approve
the resolution with the changes as I think are about to be outlined by
Mr. Weigel.
MR. WEIGEL: Thank you.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I will second that as --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So go quick.
MR. WEIGEL: Just for the record so you'll know, it will
indicate May 1st to May 15th for this year, but it will be May 1st for
all years thereafter.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I guess we also should have
as part of the motion in that we ratify all these policy -- CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Directives.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: -- thank you, directives.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And just a question. We're going
to get a summary of these assumptions and policies from you, Mr.
Smykowski? Okay. In a written format. Thank you.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
And opposed?
Item #9A
RESOLUTION 96-124 AUTHORIZING THE HOUSING FINANCE AUTHORITY OF PINELLAS
COUNTY TO ISSUE SINGLE FAMILY MORTGAGE REVENUE BONDS IN COOPERATION
WITH THE COLLIER COUNTY HOUSING FINANCE AUTHORITY, A PORTION TO BE USED
TO FINANCE QAULIFYING LOAN PROGRAMS IN COLLIER COUNTY AND THE APPROVE
THE PINELLAS AUTHORITY TO OPERATE IN COLLIER COUNTY FOR THIS PROGRAM
AND TO AUTHORIZE THE COLLIER AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AN INTERLOCAL
AGREEMENT WITH THE PINELLAS AUTHORITY FOR THESE PURPOSES - ADOPTED
Being none, Mr. Weigel, what about these housing finance
authority bonds?
MR. WEIGEL: I'm happy to respond that Mr. Mihalic is
going to give you the low-down on that. Mr. Pickworth was here but
had to leave for personal reasons and had met with Greg about it.
MR. MIHALIC: Good afternoon, Commissioners. Basically
this resolution is for an interlocal agreement between the Collier
County Housing Finance Authority and the Pinellas Housing Finance
Authority to float bonds for low down payment single-family mortgages
for first-time home buyers. There's no risk here to the county.
We've done this before with other counties. And this will, again,
expand the amount of money that will be available for loans for
first-time home buyers within Collier County.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: The county's credit rating is
not at stake on this.
MR. MIHALIC: No, ma'am. These are revenue bonds that
are totally supported by the mortgages that they fund.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: That they fund. Motion to
approve.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Motion and a second. All those in
favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
MR. MIHALIC: Thank you.
Item #9B
EMERGENCY ACCESS FOR WYNDEMERE - CONTINUED TO 3/12/96
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hancock, you have
direction for Mr. Weigel?
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Correct. I'll give you the
Reader's Digest version. On the emergency access for Wyndemere at our
last meeting, Mr. Weigel outlined options A and B. We pursued A. It
was not fruitful. We want to pursue B, and we need a resolution to
that effect. So I'm going to make a motion that we start a resolution
and direct Mr. Weigel to pursue outlined option B regarding the
emergency exits for Villa Floresta.
MR. DORRILL: B was quickly, Mr. Weigel?
MR. WEIGEL: B was that a resolution be drafted,
approved by the board here, drafted, signed by the chairman and be
recorded in the public records affecting lots 34 and 35 of the
particular platted subdivision.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Is my motion sufficient to
achieve --
MR. WEIGEL: Yours is just fine as far as I'm concerned.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'll second.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: I'll second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: When will you bring that back? Next
week, Mr. Weigel?
MR. WEIGEL: The resolution, honestly I don't need to
bring it back. I'll just prepare it for your signature, and then you
will record it. But we will continue to interact both with the
developer and the -- the landowner, and we'll be plugging away toward
the result. We preserved the status quo --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: My concern this morning when this was
suggested is that this is an action that has some consequences on one
or the other party. And it was my feeling that before we took a final
vote to take this action that we should at least advertise it to be
heard.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Or notify those --
MR. WEIGEL: It's your pleasure, as far as that goes.
That's at your pleasure. We can -- CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I personally would feel more
comfortable about putting it on next week's agenda. MR. WEIGEL: As a regular agenda item?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: As a regular agenda item. And I think
thereby giving everyone that's involved ample opportunity to be
notified.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: I have no objection. I'll amend
the motion to ask that the resolution be brought back on next week's
agenda.
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: Second accepts.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: The motion is to continue it
for a week.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: To bring it back next week on a
regularly advertised meeting, motion and second.
All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
All those opposed?
None. That passes five to zero.
Item #10A
RESOLUTION 96-125 APPOINTING LAURA RUPP BURKE TO THE
HISTORICAL/ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVATION BOARD - ADOPTED
Appointment of member to the historical/archaeological
board, one vacancy.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We have one vacancy and three
applicants. I've read through the resumes here, and I note that
Mrs. Burke or Ms. Burke has a degree in historical preservation. I'd
like to recommend that we appoint her.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: She was the committee's
recommendation, too, so there's a second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Motion and a second. All those in
favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
None.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Good.
Item #10B
RESOLUTION 96-126 APPOINTING MICHAEL HART AND T. ANTHONY BROCK TO THE
OCHOPEE FIRE CONTROL ADVISORY BOARD - ADOPTED. SECTION 7 OF ORDINANCE
86-41 WAIVED
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Member to the Ochopee Fire Control
District.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Two positions, two applicants,
motion to approve.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Second.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Excuse me. Wait a minute, Miss
Filson. What was that?
MS. FILSON: And you also need to confirm the
appointment of Everglades City.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: To the appointment of Everglades City
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Of a member from the city
council.
MS. FILSON: Yes.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: All right. I see what you mean.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: And they pick that person --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And they pick that person?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Motion and a second. All those in
favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
MS. FILSON: One thing. Mr. Brock has served two terms,
so that portion of Ordinance 86-41 needs to be waived unanimously by
the board.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: So moved.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Motion and a second to waive that
portion. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
Item #10C
PROPOSED POLICY TO COORDINATE ELECTION PETITIONS - CONTINUED TO 3/12 96
And the next item is proposed policy to coordinate
election petitions.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I mentioned this to you a
couple of times in the past. I've worked with Mr. Weigel and Mr.
Dotrill. We either have had or need the consolidation of fire
districts or different government services or additional taxes. We
seem to have requests for any number of things. One of the things
I've noticed the last couple of times in particular with big issues ms
they come to the board as the first step and ask to be put on the
ballot. It just seems if we put a policy like this in place, what it
does is encourage and, in fact, require that whomever -- they may have
a wonderful idea, but whomever goes to the public and tries to garner
some support for that idea, the board can say, gosh, let's put this on
the ballot. Because regardless of what the idea is, it seems like
public initiative should really come from the public and not just from
one or two members.
There were -- certainly the ballot shouldn't be the first step in
the process. I've talked with Mary Morgan in some detail on this as
well. She had suggested a couple of things or pointed out a couple of
things. One is the general rule is -- this is written -- is signatures
from 10 percent of the affected citizenry. She had suggested that
perhaps on return visits -- if something fails, and we'll bring it back
again and again that there may be a point where we want to make an
increased burden of signatures so that no one abuses that process. You
may be able to get 10 percent of the signatures easy enough and then
lose 75 to 25 and go out and get 10 percent of the signatures again and
start the process over. She said you may want to look at the second
time or third time or more increasing that up to 15 or 20 just making
it so if it's a repeat in a short span of time. Obviously if the issue
comes back in 10 years, that's different. And that's not included the
way it's written right now, but I thought that was a good point.
And the other one is cityhood is usually decided, of
course, through state legislature. We may want to consider it and
then -- a city may request. So I don't have an opinion on that, but I
thought it's worth mentioning. That is not included in here.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I was going to suggest wording on
that. Does the petition have to be worded specifically how it will be
on the ballot because, again, the fire consolidation issue comes to
mind right away. We were asked to put it to a vote yet we could not
agree what the wording that was actually right for that type
petition. How do we address that? Is it addressed in here? It would
seem to me that the wording would have to be on the petition.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: They still have to meet whatever
court requirements for the question, that it be unambiguous and --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah, but if 10 percent of the
population signs a petition that says I want -- and the ballot
includes a funding mechanism that wasn't on that --
MR. DORRILL: Policy says that it must generally be --
the entire ballot question must be on the front page only. The
petition to be signed must be the actual is clear and concise,
reviewed and approved by the county manager to form an ability to
understand that if a petition is needed declared to be eligible for
the purposes of getting signatures.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Okay.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We wouldn't want the question to
be on every page of the petition.
MR. DORRILL: It has to be on every leading front page,
but it can't carry over onto the second page is what it says. It
generally must be on --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: You can have it at the top with
room for 20 signatures and the next page out at the top with room --
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: So it's on every page --
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: Mr. Weigel, would this be an
ordinary advertising, or how would we go about it?
MR. WEIGEL: It can be done by resolution, and I would
suggest that if the board were to go forward today or any day on this
that they reserve a resolution and -- and authorize a resolution to be
drafted to coincide and adopt the policy. And I had a few statements,
too, if I might, for the record in regard to review of the policy as
presented in the agenda.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I think the important thing this does
is we have not had any standard rules or regulations for how we did
this in the past. And this sets a specific policy so though if someone
comes forward and has an idea -- and we want to make that as easy as
possible. At the same time we don't want whatever idea has to be the
first step in the process. I think this just sets a policy in place.
Mr. Weigel.
MR. WEIGEL: If I may add a suggestion, on page 1 of the
draft petition policy, the next-to-the-last paragraph starting with
the word however, there is a place there and a few places throughout
the draft which uses mandatory language "shall", and I would temper
that somewhat. I would suggest that on that first line starting,
"however, no petition shall be," that words to the effect that "shall
be" might be removed where it indicates no petition circulated and the
rest of the sentence continues. When you get to the end of the
sentence, "federal law shall be accepted by the board or the
commission for its consideration." I think we need to be careful
about attempting through policy to restrain or a prior restraint to a
petition being circulated, although at the same time what we're
telling them if the petition that does comply with the statements of
this paragraph shall be accepted by the board for its consideration.
And in similar fashion on page 2 of the draft, page 3 of
the agenda item, paragraph 5 states, and I'm quoting, proposed
citizens' petitions shall be circulated for signatures only, end of my
quote of that. I would suggest rather than the shall mandatory
language there, the shall word, that it read something to the effect
that proposed citizens' petitions to be circulated for signatures will
only be accepted by the board or the commission if the format of the
petition and the rest of it follows.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Mr. Weigel, it seems -- what I'd
be most comfortable with is if you would have more time to review this
more thoroughly and we put this on the agenda again. I'd like to hear
from the League of Women Voters on it. I'd like to have some public
scrutiny.
MR. WEIGEL: Fine.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I like the idea of adopting a
policy.
COMHISSIONER MATTHEWS: I don't have any objection to
continuing.
COHHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Let me just ask if there's a
general consensus on Mary Horgan's suggestion that a two-year or
four-year time period -- that we bump the burden a little bit --
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: I like that.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: I have one that says subsequent
petitions on the same question require 10 percent additional
signatures for each subsequent attempt.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Maybe we want --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: You've got to have a time limit.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Yeah. We might want to put a
time frame on that, somebody comes back eight years or ten years.
Especially in this county the situation changes, but at least two
years or four years --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Yeah, that's fine. I just want
to see a percentage increase in that so it's not the same group
driving the same question over --
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Maybe Mr. Weigel can play with the
wording between now and when we bring this back.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: He means carefully draft.
MR. WEIGEL: And, again, a couple of those places where
we have time frames of 210 days before an election, things of that
nature, the easy caveat to add is except as otherwise required by
law. And, therefore, you can preserve the flexibility if there's a
law that says contrary to what you're attempting to do here. And for
those places --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion to continue. Is there a
second?
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Second.
MR. DORRILL: You have one speaker. Miss Fitch.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Do you have a --
MS. FITCH: Excuse me?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Are you going to object to us continuing this
for one week?
MS. FITCH: I'm sorry. I didn't hear you.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We're going to continue this for a week. Are
you objecting to that?
MS. FITCH: No, I'm not. I just wanted to compliment Commissioner
Constantine and the county manager for getting this thing started.
It's a program that we've been discussing at the state level for quite
some time, so we just wanted to give you our encouragement to continue
this rather than to put it on the shelf somewhere.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Thank you. Do we have any public comments?
MR. DORRILL: No, sir.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: We need to vote on that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, we're going to. We're going to. All
those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Any opposed?
There are none. That will be continued.
Item #12C1
RESOLUTION 96-127 RE PETITION SNR-96-2, ROY RADLOVACKI REQUESTING A
STREET NAME CHANGE OF THAT PORTION OF SAND HILL STREET LYING NORTH OF
S.R. 92 TO CUSHING LAND LOCATED IN THE MARCO BEACH SUBDIVISION IN
SEC. 16, T52S, R26E - ADOPTED
Since we don't have any public comment, we'll go to our
afternoon section, advertised public hearings, 12(C)(1). Mr.
Radlovacki, are you here? Would you come forward, please, Mr.
Radlovacki. Mr. Reischl, would you tell us what's going on here?
MR. REISCHL: Fred Reischl, planning services. This is
a request for a street name change on Marco Island for a portion of
Sand Hill Street which is not north of San Marco Road which is not
connected to the portion of Sand Hill Street south of San Marco Road.
As you can see from the location map I attached that Sand Hill Street
proceeds north across 92 and turns into Tahiti Road. Sand Hill Street
is approximately 400 feet to the west of that intersection. That
portion of Sand Hill Street is about 500 feet in length. There are
eight lots that abut it. And Mr. Radlovacki has supplied signatures
from six of the eight people, and I believe he's said he's obtained
the last two in favor of this change also. As current there are no
houses that face on that portion of Sand Hill Street. Their addresses
are all on the cross streets. And the significance of that today is
that the proposed change to Cushing Lane is in honor of archeologist
Frank Cushing, who I'm sure Mr. Radlovacki will be a little more
knowledgeable than me. It's the hundredth anniversary of the
discovery of the Key Marco cat.
MR. RADLOVACKI: Yes, my name is Roy Radlovacki. Good
afternoon. One hundred years ago today maybe to this hour Frank
Cushing was sitting in the mud on Marco, and he discovered the cat.
We are lucky to have this meeting today. We -- we feel there's a --
there's a -- there's a significance here also in that this street
connects State Road 92 or San Marco Road to Tommy Barfield Elementary
School. And hopefully for the next hundred years the children or the
pupils of that school will be reminded of that dig. And I was
fortunate enough to find a street that -- that just, you know, fit
that need, you know, that those -- those kids will see.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: May I ask a quick question
here up front?
MR. RADLOVACKI: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Replace that speaker.
Everyone does that. They turn around.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Did you -- just to confirm,
you did receive affirmative reaction from all eight --
MR. RADLOVACKI: I received the -- the petition was --
was received from seven of the eight property owners. I submitted six
to Fred Reischl, and then after I -- I submitted the six to him, I
received another one.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Is there any objection from
the one that doesn't --
MR. RADLOVACKI: No, no. I -- they were -- two of the
-- two of the property owners were local. They lived on Marco.
There was only one house on that street. The other six were from out
of state. There was -- there was a point there where I was going to
give up. It was a Sunday night, and I wasn't receiving these
petitions back, and I -- I said a prayer, and I don't do that too
often, and the next morning I received three in the mail.
COMHISSIONER MAC'KIE: That will teach you.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I make a motion we -- oops,
you need to close the public hearing first.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Close the public hearing first.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: Have you done that?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: I just did that.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I make a motion to approve.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Second.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: We have a motion and a second to
approve. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.
Opposed?
None.
COHMISSIONER HAC'KIE: Thanks for doing that.
Item #15A
DISCUSSION REGARDING LEE TRAN BUS TO BE AT COURTHOUSE COMPLEX ON
3/18/96 FOR INSPECTION
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Communications, Mr. Dotrill.
MR. DORRILL: I have two. For the board's information,
officials with Lee Tran have currently established a date of March the
18th as part of their time and motion study, and they're going to have
a Lee Tran bus here on March the 18th for those of you who are
interested to see the bus and participate in the time and motion study
as they run one of the conceptual routes. We will tell you the time
for that on the 18th.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: We're looking for 3.6
million; that public transportation thing pops to mind right away.
We'll see what happens --
Item #15B
TRI-COUNTY MEETING SCHEDULED FOR 4/15/96
MR. DORRILL: The other item is that Lee County has
contacted us to discuss not only that item, but -- but other items at
a next tri-county meeting tentatively set, but I need some concurrence
with this, on April the 15th. I know that that is a date that's not
near and dear to the heart of Miss Matthews in particular, but that
it's what they suggested.
COMHISSIONER HANCOCK: How much money do they want now?
MR. DORRILL: They didn't say.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: They might be announcing what
they've given us with the -- CHAIRPERSON MATTHEWS: Sure. Mr. Weigel.
Item #15C
REPEAL OF ORDINANCE 83-7 - COUNTY ATTORNEY TO BRING BACK UNDER SEPARATE
AGENDA ITEM
MR. WEIGEL: Just one point -- thank you, Mr. Chairman
-- you had mentioned that county ordinance 83-7. I believe copies
were being made for the commissioners. But I want to make sure that
if you, in fact, wish the county attorney to do the supporting repeal
and advertisement for a date certain or wait for further direction
from you or the board.
COMHISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I'd like to look at it and
actually have an idea, but I --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, what I thought we directed you
to do was bring it back under a regular agenda item so that we could
look it over and repeal it if that is what we wanted to do.
MR. WEIGEL: To bring it back for repeal as an action
item, then we would advertise it and bring it back, and I just want to
make sure --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: We can certainly decide whether
or not to. But the discussion is shall we or shall we not repeal it,
so bring us -- my vote is bring us back a repeal ordinance.
MR. WEIGEL: Thank you. Nothing else.
Item #15D
ENCOURAGEMENT OF RESIDENTS TO REGISTER TO VOTE
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Matthews?
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Yeah, I have one item. Mr.
Erlichman when he spoke at public comment reminded me of a phone call
this morning I had from Mr. Perkins. And, you know, it really might
be a good idea if we were to consider when the registration books open
again for the two weeks prior to when they close -- I guess, in early
August is when they would close again, but that we do some little
advertising on Tuesdays before the books close to encourage people to
register to vote.
COHMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: So instead of a little sign
saying BCC on break or whatever it says --
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Encourage them to -- to register
and that they can pick up the --
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Just happen to have it handy
right there.
COHMISSIONER MATTHEWS: And that they can pick up the
registration applications at the clerk's office and all the satellite
offices and so forth.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Done.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hancock.
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: Just real quickly on the memo
that I dated last week. I met with Linda Sullivan from code
enforcement and the county attorney's office in regard to the land
code issue. We might have something specific to bring forward by next
Tuesday, if not next Tuesday, the one after. If the board wants to go
in that direction, great. If not, then we can discuss it later.
Item #15E
EHS SETTLEMENT - TO BE PLACED ON 3/12/96 AGENDA
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Commissioner Hac'Kie.
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I have two items. One is Mr.
Dotrill and I have been discussing the business about the EHS
settlement, and he offered to put it on next week's agenda, which I
think is a great idea, so we can discuss it. The other is you got a
memo which seems to be the memo issue, doesn't it, Commissioner
Hancock, on --
COHMISSIONER HANCOCK: This week let's sit down and
talk.
Item #15F
BILLIE FAMILY/RESTRICTION OF CHICKEE HUTS DISCUSSED
COHMISSIONER MAC'KIE: -- on the Billy family. My -- my
proposal -- I'm not going to go through the whole thing, but I think
what we could do is regulate the health and safety issues via fire
code and sanitary code and either exempt the residential chickee
structures themselves as an ag property or, frankly, prioritize the
code enforcement list such that that -- that particular issue ends up
wherever it belongs which is way near the bottom. I just wondered if
there was enough support on the board for that to be given any staff
direction.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I guess I have two concerns
with that, and I appreciate the fact both you and Commissioner Hancock
are trying to come up with something that we can work with. But the
first scenario you described, if we allow the chickee huts in the ag
district -- we went through a problem a number of years ago when I was
on the code enforcement board prior to being on the board with migrant
housing, and conditions werenwt really appropriate. And as itws drawn
out here -- let me read from the memo -- would be available to anyone
-- the exemption would be available to anyone. The exemption would
be available to other entities, chickee hut, regardless of their
specificity. My concern is that a chickee hut, meeting whatever that
standard of chickee hut would be, would be built and then used to
house migrant farm workers all over the ag district. And I donwt
think thatws what we want to encourage.
And on the second one, as far as us prioritizing what code
enforcement enforces or not, I just donwt think thatws appropriate. If
we get into priorities and read violations, theywll never ever be
enforced because theywll never make it to the top of the list. And
thatws, I think, crossing the line of us setting policy and letting
them do their job.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Well, as a matter of fact, the -- the reason why
we have a code enforcement board is specifically to prevent the board
of commissioners from getting into code enforcement actions because
then you would -- you would have ordinance enforcement being subject to
political whims, and that is exactly the reason why we donwt do that.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: At the time -- let me just
ask one more question. You donwt need to answer this today. As you
bring this back, I have one question on Commissioner Hancockws
suggestion, and that is wewve still got a couple of little legal
issues. I understand the purpose of what youwre doing of trying to
take care of the safety ones. Legally you canwt have more than one
unit per 5 acres of ag, and we need to deal with that. And also was
the residential thing as an accessory use; I donwt know how that
works. Iwm sure thatws what you probably worked on at the time, but
those are the two questions that immediately came to mind when I read
your --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Those are elements. What I --
all I hope to do is just to say this is a list of things that allows
for a traditional way of life that the Indians want to practice
without violating county codes or state building codes. I think there
is a way to do that. And with the help of Miss Sullivan and the
county attorneyws office, wewre going to try to identify those
things. And so thatws all Iwm trying to bring back is a recognition
of the uniqueness of what they want to -- how they want to live and
how they can within our framework rather than creating a new ordinance
and then trying to enforce the difference between a traditional
chickee and one built by someone else.
COMMISSIONER MAC~KIE: If I can just -- because we do
need to talk about this just a little bit is -- I trust that you know,
Commissioner Hancock, despite your great intentions, that memo was not
well received by --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: By a group of people that says
they shouldnlt be subject to any laws.
COMMISSIONER MAC~KIE: Okay. But --
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: I understand --
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: So instead of making them do all
their cooking in one place, we could address the health and safety
concerns. If they can pass fire codes and sanitary codes, then you
don't care where they have their electricity. And if -- if the
concern on the chickee huts is that -- is that we just don't want to
have migrant housing, then we can have it, you know -- I think we can
come up with a definition for Seminole traditional chickee. And the
last thing I'm going to say is we already have that density issue out
there. There are bunkhouses in ag property.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: What we need to do is enforce
those as well.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: Come on now. You're not going
to enforce bunkhouses on ranches. I mean, this is getting too far
afield.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: This is not an agenda item. It's
just a -- COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: It's a petition. Please allow us
to communicate at this one forum that we have.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: I'm just saying that I would ask
you to take your idea through legal and through code enforcement to
find out if it's -- if there are some hitches. I read it, and I
believe there are some legal hitches such as state building code that
we don't have the ability to exempt them from and so forth. So my
point is I'm trying to follow a path of making sure that legally what
I'm proposing is possible before bringing it to the board in any
form. I think that step has to happen.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: And then the prioritization of
their enforcement is up to them.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Well, they've already --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: By them.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: Code enforcement.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER MATTHEWS: But it's complaint driven.
COMMISSIONER MAC'KIE: I'm going to give you a list of
complaints and --
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: That has nothing to do with it. It
has nothing to do with it. The problem is the Board of County
Commissioners is getting a lot of heat because of the --
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: -- violation of law.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: And I personally would like to see
some way to work this out for them. The problem is the Board of
County Commissioners is not involved in this, and we shouldn't be
involved in this. This is a code enforcement action, and as I
explained before, we are prohibited by law, Mr. Weigel, from
interfering with code enforcement actions. MR. WEIGEL: Correct.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: If what I put together can be
given to code enforcement and they use it, fine. Is that acceptable?
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Of course. That's their call.
COMMISSIONER HANCOCK: Sure.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: The Board of County Commissioners is
not going to sit up here and set policy for code enforcement to
follow.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: There are policies and
ordinances which they're required to follow, and we don't need to
interfere into that.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: That's correct.
COMMISSIONER CONSTANTINE: I have nothing under BCC.
CHAIRMAN NORRIS: Miss Filson, do you have anything
under BCC?
MS. FILSON: Lunch.
***** Commissioner Hancock moved, seconded by Commissioner
Constantine, and carried unanimously, that the following items under
the consent agenda be approved and/or adopted:
Item #16Ala
RESOLUTION 96-108 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50501-026; OWNER OF
RECORD - BONNIE M. CHRISTIAN
See Pages
Item #16Alb
RESOLUTION 96-109 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50531-059; OWNER OF
RECORD - DORIS GROSSMAN
See Pages
Item #16Alc
RESOLUTION 96-110 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50628-023; OWNER OF
RECORD - ELIANNE FRANCIS
See Pages
Item #16Ald
RESOLUTION 96-111 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50630-091; OWNER OF
RECORD - VALENTIN GONZALEZ AND MIGDALIA GONZALEZ
See Pages
Item #16Ale
RESOLUTION 96-112 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50712-038; OWNER OF
RECORD - IMPERIAL FIVE, INC.
See Pages
Item #16Alf
RESOLUTION 96-113 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50720-017; OWNER OF
RECORD - HAYEL MASSOUD, NASSER NASSER
See Pages
Item #16Alg
RESOLUTION 96-114 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50725-002; OWNER OF
RECORD - DELTONA CORPORATION
See Pages
Item #16Alh
RESOLUTION 96-115 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50810-043; OWNER OF
RECORD - NORBERTO PEREZ-URRIAAND ZOILA PEREZ-URRIA
See Pages
Item #16Ali
RESOLUTION 96-116 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50919-047; OWNER OF
RECORD - MABEL H. ALBRECHT, ET AL
See Pages
Item #16Alj
RESOLUTION 96-117 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50921-129; OWNER OF
RECORD - LEONARD J. BUBRI, NICHOLAS KARALIS
See Pages
Item #16Alk
RESOLUTION 96-118 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 50927-086; OWNER OF
RECORD - ERIC A. MAiNDELL
See Pages
Item #16All - This item deleted
Item #16Alm
RESOLUTION 96-119 RE LIEN RESOLUTION TO EFFECT THE ABATEMENT OF THE
PUBLIC NUISANCE FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT CASE NO. 51009-052 ; OWNER OF
RECORD - BARBARA K. HAMORY
See Pages
Item #16Aln - Withdrawn
Item #16B1
WORK ORDER FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES RELATED TO COUNTY-WIDE UTILITY
MAPPING
See Pages
Item #16B2
AWARD BID #96-2475 TO HIGHPOINT GENERAL CONTRACTING IN THE AMOUNT OF
$292,572.00 TO CONSTRUCT A CHLORINE BUILDING ENCLOSURE AT THE SOUTH
REGIONAL WATER TREATMENT PLANT
Item #16B3
AWARD BID #96-2480 TO NAUTILUS DREDGING & DOCKS IN THE AMOUNT OF
$62,000.00 FOR MARCO ISLAND BEACH GRADING
Item #16B4
RESOLUTION 96-120 RE LEGISLATIVE FUNDING FOR FLORIDA BEACH PROJECTS
See Pages
Item #16D1
SATISFACTIONS OF NOTICE OF PROMISE TO PAY AND AGREEMENT TO EXTEND
PAYMENT OF SEWER SYSTEM IMPACT FEES
See Pages
Item #16D2
SATISFACTIONS OF CLAIM OF LIENS
See Pages
Item #16El
BUDGET AMENDMENTS 96-253 AND 96-262
Item #16E2
WAIVER OF EMS FEES FOR THE NUVEEN MASTERS TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Item #16G1
CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION TO THE TAX TAX ROLLS AS PRESENTED BY THE
PROPERTY APPRAISER'S OFFICE
1995 REAL PROPERTY
NO. DATE
204 - 205 2/21/96
1995 TANGIBLE PERSON PROPERTY
1995-58 2/20/96
Item #16G2
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE - FILED AND/OR REFERRED
The following miscellaneous correspondence as presented by the
Board of County Commissioners has been directed to the various
departments as indicated:
Item #16H1
AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES HATCHING GRANT FUNDS
AWARDED FOR DISPATCHER TRAINING
Item #16H2
BUDGET AMENDMENT RECOGNIZING FISCAL YEAR 1994/95 CARRYFORWARD AND
APPROVE THE USE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT TRUST FUNDS (608)
Item #1611
SETTLEMENT WITH U.S. HOMES CORPORATION AS A RESULT OF STIPULATIONS MADE
BY U.S. HOMES DURING FEBRUARY, 1996 BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AND APPEALS
PROCEEDING IN WHICH U.S. HOMES SOUGHT TO MODIFY AN ORDER OF THE COLLIER
COUNTY BUILDING OFFICIAL DENYING U.S. HOMES A BUILDING PERMIT FOR A
TEMPORARY MOBILE HOME REAL ESTATE OFFICE
See Pages
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 1:33 p.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COHMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIAL DISTRICTS UNDER ITS
CONTROL
JOHN C. NORRIS, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK
These minutes approved by the Board on
as presented or as corrected
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF DONOVAN COURT REPORTING
BY: Barbara A. Donovan